tihvavf  of  Che  'theological  ^emmarjc 

PRINCETON    .    NEW  JERSEY 
PRESENTED  BY 


Mrs.  S.H.  Smith 
Morristown,  N>J> 

BV  3790  .H85  1S59  c.2 
Humphrey,  Heman,  1779-1861. 
Revival  sketches  and  manual 


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EEVIVAL 


SKETCHES  A^'D  MAJS^UAL. 


IN  TWO  PARTS, 


BY  REV.  HEMAN  HUMPHREY,  D.  D.. 

PITTSPIELD,    MASS. 


PUBLISHED  BT  THE 
AMERICAN   TRACT  SOCIETY, 

150  NAi53AU-STEEET,  NEW  YORK. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1859,  by  the  American 
Tract  Society,  in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern 
District  of  New  York. 


CONTENTS 


PART  I. 
REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

CHAPTER   I. 

SUMMARY  VIEW— TO  THE  DAY  OF  PENTECOST 
AND  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE. 

The  history  of  the  church  a  history  of  revivals — "What  is  a  revival  of 
religion  ? — Revival  in  the  time  of  Joshua — Josiah  and  other  kings 
— After  the  captivity — New  Testament — John  the  Baptist — The 
day  of  Pentecost — The  apostolic  age — Testimony  of  Pliny  and 
Tertullian 11 

CHAPTER  II. 

''THE    GREAT    REFORMATION " —SIXTEENTH 
AND  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURIES. 

The  dark  ages — The  Waldenses  and  other  witnesses  and  martyrs — 
''The  Great  Reformation"  in  the  time  of  Luther,  Calvin,  etc. — 
Remarkable  power  and  diffusion  of  the  work — Scotland  in  1625-8 
— ' '  The  Stuarton  sickness ' ' — Mr.  Livingstone  at  the  kirk  of  Shotts 
— North  of  Ireland,  1625  to  1628 — England  in  the  days  of  Bunyan, 
AUeine,  Howe,  etc. — Ministry  of  Baxter  at  Kidderminster 26 

CHAPTER  III. 

"THE  GREAT  AWAKENING"— EIGHTEENTH  CEN- 
TURY, ABOUT  1740. 

Testimony  of  many  as  to  the  low  state  of  religion— Revivals  in 
Scotland — Cambuslang  in  1742— England  in  the  days  of  Wesley, 
Whitefield,  Fletcher,  Romaine,  etc.— Lady  Huntingdon  and  other 


4  CONTENTS. 

"honorable  -women " — ^The United  States ;  testimony  of  Danfortli, 
Edwards,  Increase  and  Cotton  Mather,  Prince,  Blair — Degeneracy 
under  the  "Half-way  Covenant"  —  Kevival  under  Edwards  at 
Northampton — Labors  of  Whitefield,  Tennent,  etc. — Extent  of 
the  work — Newark. and. Elizabethtown — Ti'uths  chiefly  urged  in 
these  revivals — "Bodily  exercises" — Errors  and  recantation  of 
Davenport — Benefits  of  these  revivals 46 

CHAPTER  lY. 

THE  REYIYAL  EPOCH  ABOUT  1800. 

A  period  of  general  declension — Its  causes  :  the  "Old  French  war;" 
the  Revolutionary  war ;  French  infidelity  and  Revolution — Per- 
sonal reminiscences  of  the  commencement  of  the  revivals — Bella- 
my, Edwards,  ^iffiji,  Hallock,  etc. — Scriptural  preaching — Dr. 
Griffin's  life  and  testimony — Gordon  Hall  and  Samuel  J.  Mills-  -94 

CHAPTER  Y. 

THE  REVIVAL  EPOCH  ABOUT   1800— Continued. 

Testimony  of  Dr.  Gr^fin,  1797-9— Rev.  Jer.  Hallock,  1798,  9— Dr. 

A.  Hyde,  1792— Rev.  A.  R.  Robbins,  1799— Dr.  T.  M.  Cooley— 
Rev.  Jos.  "Washburn — Dr.  Samuel  Shephard — Rev.  Alex.  Gillett — 
Rev.  Joshua  Williams — Rev.  Moses  Hallock — Rev.  Asahel  Hooker 
— Rev.  Ira  Hart — Dr.  Ebenezer  Porter — Judge  Reeve  and  Judge 
Boudinot — Dr.  Baldwin,  and  Rev.  Messrs.  Ledoyt  and  Seamans — 
Rev.  Dr.  "Wood— Rev.  Jesse  Edson — From  Rutland,  Vt. — Rev.  J. 

B.  Preston— Dr.  Proudfit— Dr.  Thos.  De  "Witt— Dr.  John  M.  Ma- 
son—  Dr.  Milledoler  —  Dr.  Griffia  in  Newark — Dr.  "Wm.  Hill  at 
Hampden  Sidney  College— Dr.  Archibald  Alexander,  in  Va. — Dr. 
Furman  of  S.  C. — Rev.  Jos.  Stevenson  and  Rev.  Thos.  Marquis, 
"West  Pa.— Dr.  Davidson,  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee— Dr.  Cle- 
land — Dr.  Dwight,  in  Yale  College — Characteristics  and  fruits  of 
these  revivals :  missionary  efforts - 118 

CHAPTER   YI. 

THE  REVIVAL  EPOCH  ABOUT   1800— Continued. 

Revivals  in  1814 — Modes  of  conducting  them — Rev.  Asahel  Nettle- 
ton — Testimony  of  Dr.  Gardiner  Spring — Bishop  Mcllvaine — Dr. 
Archibald  Maclay — Dr.  Hyde— Dr.  Porter — Dr.  Ashbel  Green — 
Dr.  John  McDowell— The  author,  at  Pittsfield,  1821 206 


CONTENTS.  5 

CHAPTER  YII. 

THE  REVIVAL  EPOCH  ABOUT  1800— Continued. 

Brief  notices  of  revivals,  1815  to  1825 — Memoranda  from  Kettle- 
ton's  life — Some  things  to  be  regretted — "  Protracted  meetings," 
"revivalists" — Eevivals  in  colleges  and  seminaries — Yale,  Will- 
iams, Mount  Holyoke — Revivals  on  missionary  ground — Sand^^'icK 
islands,  Burmah,  etc.,  the  American  Indians  —  The  revival  of 
1858 — Prevailing  worldliness  of  the  church — Financial  distress — 
Origia  of  the  revival — Union  prayer-meetings — Rapidity  of  its 
diffusion — Change  in  public  opinion  —  Prayers  for  uadividuals 
answered — Dangers  to  be  avoided — England  and  Scotland — Han- 
nah More,  Newton,  Fuller,  Rowland  Hill,  etc. — Robert  and  James 
A.  Haldane — General  summary  review - - 259 


PART  II. 
REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

CHAPTER   YIII. 

'^PKEPARE  YE  THE  WAT  OF  THE  LORD." 

" 0  Lord,  revive  thy  work " — "Lord,  increase  our  faith  " — Hinder- 
ances  to  revivals — "Take  up  the  stumbling-blocks  out  of  the 
way" — The  Saviour's  return — "Come  down  ere  my  child  die" — 
Preaching  to  the  church — Preaching  to  the  impenitent — The  pas- 
tor in  a  revival — Where  a  revival  has  just  commenced — Inquiry 
meetings— Conversing  with  the  awakened  and  the  unawakened 
in  revivals— Instruction  to  candidates  for  membership— To  per- 
sons about  to  join  the  church  after  a  revival— To  the  converts  in 
a  revival  when  they  join  the  church - 303 

CHAPTER  IX. 

BRIEF  APPEALS. 

"  Sirs,  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved?" — "  Come  unto  me,  and  I  will 
give  you  rest" — "The  carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God" — 
"  Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate  " — "  She  was  nothing  bet- 
ter, but  rather  grew  worse" — "Go  thy  way  for  this  time;  when 


CONTENTS. 

I  have  a  convenient  season,  I  will  call  for  thee" — "Almost  thou 
persuadest  me  to  be  a  Christian" — "Commune  with  your  own 
heart,  and  be  still" — "Quench  not  the  Spirit" — "The  wiles  of 
the  devil" — ^To  young  converts — "He  that  endureth  to  the  end 
shall  be  saved" 372 


REVIVAL  CONVERSATIONS 


BETWEEN   A  PASTOR  AND  INQUIRERS. 

1.  A  delaying  inquirer - 425 

2.  An  inquirer  satisfied  with  preparatory  work - 429 

3.  Inquirer's  plea  that  he  had  done  all  he  could  do 432 

4.  Plea  that  he  has  not  been  long  enough  under  conviction  — 434 

5.  Waiting  for  the  influence  of  the  Spirit 438 

6.  Fearing  he  has  committed  the  unpardonable  sin-- 441 

7.  Desponding  and  ready  to  give  up  hope  of  repentance  - 443 

8.  Indulging  a  trembling  hope - 445 

9.  Afraid  of  religious  excitement - 449 

10.  Excuse  that  he  had  once  obtained  a  hope  which  proved  fal- 

lacious  452 

11.  Had  attended  all  the  meetings,  and  was  discouraged 454 

12.  That  all  his  resolutions  of  future  repentance  proved  futile- -455 

13.  Fears  that  the  privileges  enjoyed  will  but  aggravate  his 

doom - --456 

14.  Excuse  from  the  fear  that  hopes  suddenly  obtained  may  be 

delusive - - - - 458 

15.  Excuse  from  the  inconsistency  of  professors 460 

16.  Gains  no  relief,  and  comes  to  the  pastor  as  a  last  resort 462 

17.  Clinging  to  a  hope  that  may  not  abide 463 

18.  Tests  of  a  well-groimded  hope - 465 

19.  Great  doctrines  of  the  gospel  urged  by  a  caviller 468 

20.  Serious  questions  for  self-examination 470 


INTEODUCTION 


It  is  now  more  than  thirty  years  since  it  struck 
me  that  a  concise  history  of  revivals  from  about  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  might  be  accept- 
able to  the  churches,  as  a  sort  of  Christian  manual  to 
help  the  cause  of  pure  and  undefiled  religion  in  the 
present  and  in  "the  generations  following."  Having 
come  upon  the  stage  just  at  the  commencement  of  that 
memorable  epoch,  and  witnessed  many  revivals,  I  was 
moved  to  inquire  whether  the  duty  of  attempting  to 
gather  and  arrange  the  materials  for  such  a  history 
to  the  praise  of  sovereign  redeeming  mercy  devolved 
upon  me.  I  consulted  Dr.  Griffin  on  the  subject,  than 
whom  few  men  had  larger  experience  in  revivals.  He 
encouraged  me  to  go  on,  and  I  made  some  collection 
of  the  narratives  which  were  within  my  reach.  But 
I  soon  became  convinced  that  to  do  any  thing  like 
justice  to  the  glorious  theme,  within  reasonable  lim- 
its, was  a  task  beyond  my  powers,  and  for  which  I 
then  could  not  command  the  time.  As  professional 
and  public  duties  soon  became  more  exacting  and 
arduous,  I  dismissed  the  subject,  and  there  the  matter 
rested  for  more  than  twenty  years. 

After  I  had  withdrawn  from  the  cares  and  labors 
of  a  public  seminary,  and  of  course  had  more  leisure 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

for  miscellaneous  duties,  I  was  requested  to  take  up 
the  question  anew,  of  preparing  a  volume  of  revival 
narratives  and  reminiscences,  reaching  back  to  about 
the  beginning  of  the  present  century.  The  request 
was  from  time  to  time  renewed,  by  persons  in  whose 
judgment  I  had  much  confidence.  My  answer  was,  I 
am  too  old  for  such  an  undertaking :  I  could  not  sat- 
isfy myself,  much  less  hope  to  do  justice  to  the  sub- 
ject. 

Moreover,  as  I  reflected  upon  it,  although  the  ma- 
terials at  hand  were  ample,  the  field  appeared  to  me 
quite  too  narrow.  If  I  said  any  thing,  I  wished  to 
go  farther  back  and  take  a  wider  range.  It  seemed 
to  me  that  I  ought  to  inquire  how  far  back  the  his- 
tory of  revivals  could  be  traced;  and  if  they  were 
found  to  be  of  very  ancient  date,  to  inquire  whether 
their  essential  features  had  been  everywhere  the  same ; 
and  whether  or  not  the  work  of  redemption  had  been 
carried  on  by  the  Holy  Spirit  chiefly  by  these  "  times 
of  refreshing  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord.''  I  sus- 
pected it  would  be  found  that  religion  has  never  flour- 
ished and  rapidly  extended  its  saving  influence,  but 
in  connection  with  special  reformations,  or  revivals 
as  we  now  call  them,  interrupted  by  longer  or  shorter 
seasons  of  declension. 

As  this  opened  so  wide  and  so  interesting  a  field 
of  inquiry,  I  at  length  consented  to  the  attempt, 
though  with  many  misgivings  as  to  my  being  able  to 
go  over  so  much  ground,  gather  the  materials  scatter- 
ed along  the  ages,  and  bring  out  a  book  worthy  of 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

being  received  by  the  churches  as  a  small  contribu- 
tion to  confirm  their  confidence  in  the  desirableness 
of  more  frequent  and  powerful  revivals  than  have 
yet  been  enjoyed.  The  result  of  these  inquiries  has 
more  than  answered  my  anticipations,  and  will  be 
found  embodied  in  these  sketches.  Going  back  to 
the  time  of  Joshua,  and  tracing  this  branch  of  the 
history  of  redemption  down  through  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments  to  the  close  of  the  apostolic  age ;  then  on- 
ward, groping  my  way  through  the  dark  ages,  to  the 
Protestant  Reformation ;  and  advancing  still,  from 
stage  to  stage,  down  to  "  the  Great  Awakening " 
about  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  and  the  perhaps 
still  more  glorious  work  commencing  almost  simulta- 
neously with  the  present  century,  I  have  brought  down 
the  history,  or  rather  the  brief  sketches  embraced  in 
the  first  part  of  this  volume,  to  the  present  time. 

In  the  second  part,  which  I  have  ventured  to  call 
a  Revival  Manual,  I  have  first  given  my  view  of  the 
way  in  which  revivals  should  be  sought  for  and  pro- 
moted, then  inserted  brief  practical  addresses  such 
as  I  have  been  accustomed  to  make  in  seasons  of  the 
outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  and  closed  the  volume  with 
some  Pastoral  Conversations,  out  of  many  which  I 
have  been  permitted  to  hold  with  inquirers. 

I  have  fallen  far  short  of  reaching  my  own  ideal 
of  what  such  a  book  should  be,  but  have  "  done  what 
I  could :"  gratefully  acknowledging  special  obligations 
to  the  several  pastors  and  others  whose  communica- 
tions, written  chiefly  in  the  memorable  era  of  the  out- 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

pouring  of  the  Spirit  about  the  year  1831,  were  re- 
quested from  them  by  the  Eev.  Dr.  Sprague,  and 
embodied  as  an  appendix  to  his  Lectures  on  Revi- 
vals. And  now  nothing  remains  but,  lifting  up  my 
heart  in  fervent  thanksgivings  to  the  Infinite  Source 
and  Author  of  all  true  revivals,  and  imploring  his 
blessing  on  this  feeble  "  essay  to  do  good,"  to  commit 
it  to  Him  who  is  able  to  make  the  weakest  instru- 
mentality subservient  to  the  building  up  of  his  king- 
dom in  the  world,  and  the  accomplishing  of  his  glori- 
ous purposes  in  the  awakening,  conversion,  and  salva- 
tion of  sinners.  H.  H. 
PiTTSFiELD,  April  16,  1859. 


PAKT  FIEST 


REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 


CHAPTER   I. 

SUMMARY  VIEW— TO  THE  DAY  OF  PENTECOST 
AND  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE. 

The  history  of  the  church,  including  all  the  times 
of  refreshing  and  drought  that  have  marked  its  prog- 
ress, is  identical  with  the  history  of  Redemption.  It  is 
a  living  stream,  as  it  were,  springing  just  outside  of  the 
garden  of  Eden,  scarcely  discernible  at  first,  but  flow- 
ing down  from  age  to  age ;  sometimes  sparkling  in 
the  sunlight;  sometimes  all  but  swallowed  up  in  the 
sands  of  the  desert ;  breaking  out  again  in  the  prom- 
ised land ;  at  one  period  a  wide  river,  then  a  con- 
tracted rivulet  almost  hidden  for  long  reaches,  and 
widening  again  to  keep  the  promise  alive,  when  it 
seemed  to  have  disappeared  for  ever  in  the  stagnant 
marshes  of  Babylon.  To  drop  the  figure  :  the  his- 
tory of  the  church,  broken  off  by  the  seventy  years' 
captivity,  was  renewed  again  when  the  remnant  re- 
turned to  their  own  land,  under  Ezra  and  Nehemiah. 


12  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

After  that,  scarcely  any  thing  is  said  of  her  till  we 
come  down  to  the  New  Testament,  to  that  remarka- 
ble awakening  which  took  place  in  the  days  of  John 
the  Baptist,  when  a  new  and  more  spiritual  dispensa- 
tion was  close  at  hand,  to  be  introduced  and  carried 
forward  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  "Head  over  all 
things  to  the  church." 

The  first  glorious  era  of  her  triumphs  was  that 
which  marked  the  apostolic  age,  and  to  which,  in 
spite  of  all  opposition,  so  many  chapters,  full  of  the 
first  promise,  have  since  been  added,  which  promise 
will  reach  its  high  and  glorious  culmination  when 
those  great  voices  shall  be  heard  in  heaven,  saying, 
"The  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  become  the  king- 
doms of  our  Lord  and  his  Christ,  and  he  shall  reign 
for  ever  and  ever." 

How,  then,  has  this  work  of  Redemption  been 
mainly  carried  on  hitherto ;  and  how  have  we  reason 
to  expect  it  will  be  hereafter  ?  Li  looking  back,  we 
shall  find  that  seasons  of  special  absorbing  religious 
interest,  which  by  common  consent  are  now  called 
the  Revival  of  Religion,  have  a  history.  When  did 
this  history  begin?  How  far  back  does  it  date? 
These  are  important  questions ;  but  before  answer- 
ing them  there  is  a  preliminary  one. 

What  is  a  Revival  op  Religion?  What  are  some 
of  its  phases  and  true  characteristics?  When  may  it 
be  said  there  is  a  true  Revival  of  Religion  in  any  age 
or  part  of  the  world  ? 

We  answer,  a  temporary  religious  excitement, 
however  high  it  may  rise,  which  does  not  go  down 
into  the  hidden  man  of  the  heart,  and  stir  up  the 


WHAT  IS  A  TRUE  REVIVAL?  13 

depths  of  the  soul  to  the  earnest  inquiry,  "  What  must 
we  do  to  be  saved?''  is  not  a  true  revival  of  relig- 
ion. There  may  be  a  whirlwind,  and  the  Lord  not 
be  in  it.  There  may  be  great  mental  and  physical 
excitement  where  there  are  few  or  no  conversions. 
Nor  where  only  a  very  few  persons  are  about  the 
same  time  awakened  and  truly  converted  by  the  Spirit 
of  God,  is  there  what  we  understand  by  a  revival, 
though  it  is  the  self-same  Spirit  that  worketh  so 
mightily  when  hundreds  are  born  again  and  seen  fly- 
ing as  a  cloud  and  as  doves  to  their  windows.  As  it 
is  not  here  and  there  a  ripening  cluster  that  makes  a 
vintage,  nor  a  few  sheaves  that  make  a  harvest,  nor 
a  few  drops  that  make  a  shower,  so  a  few  drops  of 
mercy,  falling  on  individual  souls  here  and  there,  do 
not  constitute  what  is  usually  termed  a  revival  of 
religion. 

What  is  it,  then  ?  A  genuine  revival  is  the  fruit 
or  effect  of  a  supernatural  Divine  influence,  which 
restores  the  joy  of  God's  salvation  to  backsliding 
Christians,  startles  the  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins, 
convinces  them  of  their  lost  and  perishing  condition, 
and  makes  them  willing  in  the  day  of  God's  power. 
In  the  church  there  is  a  genuine  revival  when  she 
rises  and  shakes  herself  from  the  dust  and  puts  on 
her  beautiful  garments,  which  have  been  laid  aside  to 
her  great  discomfort  and  reproach.  In  a  congrega- 
tion there  is  a  true  revival  when  impenitent  sinners 
in  considerable  numbers  are  awakened  and  converted 
within  a  few  days  or  weeks,  and  "many  are  added  to 
the  Lord  of  such  as  shall  be  saved." 

In  their  essential  nature  and  effects,  all  genuine 


U  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

revivals  are  alike.  Since  true  religion  is  everywhere 
the  same  in  essence,  so  must  genuine  revivals  be  in 
every  age  and  in  every  part  of  the  world.  But  there 
may  be  great  diversities  in  many  respects.  They  may 
be  frequent,  or  far  between.  They  may  be  isolated, 
here  and  there  one  springing  up  while  the  wise  and 
foolish  virgins  all  around  are  slumbering  together; 
or  they  may  simultaneously  occur  over  wide  regions 
that  had  long  been  parched  by  spiritual  drought.  In 
like  manner,  a  revival  of  religion  may  be  more  or 
less  powerful,  and  may  continue^ for  a  longer  or  short- 
er time.  It  may  show  the  sovereignty  of  God  in  hav- 
ing mercy  upon  whom  he  will  have  mercy,  in  a  more 
or  less  striking  manner.  He  may  send  the  blessing 
by  whom  he  will  send,  and  may  bring  scores  or  hun- 
dreds or  thousands  into  the  church,  or  only  a  smaller 
number.  One  revival  originates  in  a  Sabbath-school, 
and  spreads  over  a  whole  congregation ;  another 
breaks  out  suddenly  in  an  academy,  a  factory,  in  a 
sailor's  Bethel,  or  in  a  penitentiary.  One  revival 
takes  in  persons  of  all  classes,  and  another  reaches 
one  or  two  classes,  leaving  the  rest  as  it  found  them. 
One  pervades  the  whole  town,  while  another  is  con- 
fined mainly  to  the  centre,  or  the  out  districts.  One 
begins  among  the  higher  classes,  and  another  among 
the  lower ;  one  with  the  young  men,  another  with  the 
young  women,  and  another  with  one  or  both  sexes  in 
middle  life.  But  wherever  and  however,  it  is  the 
same  Holy  Spirit  ''turning  men  from  darkness  to 
light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God." 

So,  again,  while  all  genuine  revivals  agree  in  the 
essential  things,  the  subjects  of  them  are  variously 


OLD  TESTAMENT  TIMES.  15 

wrought  upon  in  the  progress  of  the  work.  In  some 
cases,  God  makes  a  short  work,  drawing  sinners  at 
once  to  the  foot  of  the  cross ;  in  others,  convictions 
of  sin  and  wrath  long  continue  before  Christ  is  re- 
vealed to  them.  In  one  revival  the  thunderings  of 
the  law  as  it  were  constrain  sinners  to  "flee  from 
the  wrath  to  come "  to  the  only  Eefuge ;  in  another, 
the  sweet  voice  of  mercy  sounding  out  from  Calvary 
by  the  same  divine  power  draws  them  as  with  cords 
of  love. 

Kevivals  may  and  actually  do  exhibit  all  these 
and  other  different  phases,  modified  by  such  agencies 
as  God  is  pleased  to  employ  for  his  own  glory  in 
building  up  his  spiritual  kingdom. 

Bearing  in  mind  these  leading  characteristics,  and 
divers  operations  by  the  same  Spirit,  the  way  is  now 
prepared  to  inquire  where  and  how  long  ago  did 
these  special  operations  of  the  Spirit  begin,  and 
briefly  to  trace  them  down  through  the  ages  to  the 
present  time. 

Whether  any  thing  like  a  revival  took  place 
when,  in  the  days  of  Enos,  men  began  to  call  upon  the 
name  of  the  Lord,  we  are  not  informed ;  but  when  the 
flood  came,  the  whole  earth  was  filled  with  violence. 

And  so  after  Noah,  when  Abraham  was  called,  it 
seemed  as  if  the  apostasy  had  again  become  nearly  or 
quite  universal.  Certain  it  is  that  he  went  out  alone 
as  a  true  worshipper,  "not  knowing  whither  he  went." 
There  was  no  organized  church  in  the  world,  nothing 
like  it,  till  through  his  faith  in  the  divine  promise 
one  was  established  in  his  family ;   and  then  Isaac 


16  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

and  Jacob  and  Joseph,  and  others  of  like  precious 
faith,  became  heirs  of  the  promise. 

But  among  their  posterity  there  was  rapidly  a 
great  falling  away  from  the  worship  of  the  true  God. 
All  along  there  was  doubtless  a  remnant,  according 
to  the  election  of  grace ;  but  we  do  not  find  recorded 
a  general  reformation  till  we  come  to  the  last  chapter 
of  Joshua.  Of  those  who  were  twenty  years  old  and 
upward  when  they  left  Egypt,  all,  save  Joshua  and 
Caleb,  had  perished  in  the  wilderness.  But  now  the 
time  had  come  when  there  was  to  be  a  great  national 
reformation.  Joshua,  knowing  that  he  must  soon  lay 
down  his  high  commission  and  die,  gathered  all  the 
tribes  together  at  Shechem,  that  he  might  meet  them 
for  the  last  time,  and  give  them  his  dying  charge. 

It  was  a  solemn  and  imposing  national  convoca- 
tion. All  the  people  hastened  with  alacrity  to  meet 
their  aged  and  beloved  chief,  and  to  hear  his  parting 
words.  As  the  chosen  captain  of  the  Lord's  hosts,  he 
had  led  them  on  from  victory  to  victory,  had  divided 
the  promised  land  among  them  according  to  their 
tribes,  and  nothing  now  remained  but  his  final  charge 
and  benediction.  When  the  hour  had  come,  we  seem 
to  see  him  rising  in  the  midst  of  the  vast  assembly, 
every  whisper  hushed,  and  every  eye  fastened  upon 
him,  as  he  waved  his  hand  and  commenced  his  ad- 
dress by  glancing  at  the  origin  of  their  nation,  the 
remarkable  history  of  God's  dealings  with  them,  from 
the  calling  of  Abraham  down  through  their  sore  Egyp- 
tian bondage,  their  miraculous  deliverances,  their 
wanderings  in  the  wilderness,  and  their  now  quiet 
settlement  in  the  land  of  promise.     This  done,  he 


OLD  TESTAMENT  TIMES.  It 

proceeded  to  pronounce  the  final  charge  for  which  he 
had  called  them  together.     And  what  a  charge ! 

"Now  therefore  fear  the  Lord,  and  serve  him  in 
sincerity  and  truth,  and  put  away  the  gods  which 
your  fathers  served  on  the  other  side  of  the  flood  and 
in  Egypt,  and  serve  ye  the  Lord."  The  appeal  was 
overwhelming.  It  melted  down  the  whole  of  that 
vast  assembly,  and  they  answered  as  one  man,  "  God 
forbid  that  we  should  forsake  the  Lord,  to  serve  other 
gods."  Joshua,  following  up  the  appeal,  held  them 
to  their  promise.  "Ye  are  witnesses  against  your- 
selves that  ye  have  chosen  the  Lord,  to  serve  him. 
And  they  said.  We  are  witnesses.  The  Lord  our 
God  will  we  serve,  and  his  voice  we  will  obey.  So 
Joshua  made  a  covenant  with  the  people  that  day, 
and  set  them  a  statute  and  an  ordinance  in  Shechem." 

Had  the  record  closed  here,  we  could  not  know 
that  the  tribes  were  sincere  in  these  solemn  reiterated 
promises,  or  that  if  they  were  sincere,  it  was  not  a 
mere  burst  of  sympathetic  emotion,  which  soon  sub- 
sided. But  the  event  proved  that  it  was  a  great  and 
abiding  national  reformation,  by  whatever  name  it 
might  be  called ;  the  most  remarkable  in  this  respect 
on  sacred  record,  for  it  is  added,  "  When  Joshua  had 
let  the  people  go,  the  children  of  Israel  went  every 
man  unto  his  own  inheritance,  to  possess  the  land. 
And  the  people  served  the  Lord  all  the  days  of 
Joshua,  and  all  the  days  of  the  elders  that  outlived 
Joshua,  who  had  seen  all  the  great  works  of  the 
Lord  that  he  did  for  Israel."  This  was  indeed  a 
glorious  revival  of  true  religion. 

After  that  generation  passed  off  from  the  stage, 


18  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

there  was  a  great  falling  away  under  the  Judges, 
down  to  the  time  of  Samuel,  a  period  of  about  three 
hundred  years.  Towards  the  close  of  his  life  there 
seems  to  have  been  something  like  what  we  should 
call  a  general  awakening.  The  people  were  brought 
under  great  alarm,  and  confessed  their  sin  in  reject- 
ing the  Lord  and  asking  for  a  king.  But  the  prophet 
had  not  been  long  in  the  grave  when  the  great  body  of 
the  people  relapsed  into  their  former  state,  or  rather, 
for  the  most  part  waxed  worse  and  worse. 

The  succeeding  centuries  under  the  Kings,  many 
of  whom,  especially  those  of  the  ten  tribes,  God 
"gave  in  his  anger"  to  a  people  who  "  would  not  have 
Him  to  reign  over  them,"  were  marked  by  shameless 
idolatry,  high-handed,  heaven-daring  sins,  by  awful 
prophetic  warnings  and  denunciations,  and  by  mar- 
vellous divine  interpositions,  both  in  judgment  and 
in  mercy.  Under  David  and  Solomon,  God  fulfilled 
all  the  good  things  which  he  had  spoken  j  and  in  the 
Psalms  of  David  then  sung,  perpetuated  his  exalted 
praises  through  all  periods  of  time.  But  though  the 
pious  Asa  and  Jehoshaphat  reigned  in  Judah,  and 
Elijah  seemed  to  have  exterminated  the  worship  of 
Baal  in  Israel ;  though  Hezekiah,  strengthened  by  the 
prophecies  of  Isaiah,  wrought  a  glorious  and  wide- 
spread reformation;  and  though,  "weary  with  for- 
bearing," God  had  driven  the  ten  tribes  into  captiv- 
ity, yet  Manasseh  sinned  beyond  all  who  had  gone 
before  him,  and  hope  almost  expired. 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  at  any  period  there 
were  no  true  conversions;  there  certainly  were  a 
great  many.    The  church  was  kept  alive  from  age  to 


OLD  TESTAMENT  TIMES.  19 

age,  notwithstanding  the  general  apostasy.  In  the 
darkest  time,  when  Elijah  himself  gave  up  all  for 
lost,  and  fled,  he  was  assured  that  there  were  seven 
thousand  men  in  Israel  who  had  not  bowed  the  knee 
to  the  image  of  Baal. 

We  now  come  to  that  most  remarkable,  though 
temporary  reformation,  which  took  place  in  the  reign 
of  Josiah.  It  commenced  on  this  wise :  In  looking 
over  some  ancient  records,  Hilkiah  the  high-priest 
found  the  book  of  the  law  in  the  house  of  the  Lord, 
which  had  been  for  a  very  long  time  out  of  sight  and 
out  of  mind.  He  brought  it  out,  and  when  it  was 
read  in  the  ears  of  the  king,  he  rent  his  clothes,  and 
trembled  under  its  terrible  denunciations.  He  felt 
that  something  must  be  done  at  once  to  turn  away 
the  great  wrath  of  the  Lord,  which  hung  like  a  storm 
of  fire  over  the  nation.  He  saw  that  it  admitted  of 
no  delay,  and  issued  his  proclamation  for  a  general 
gathering  of  the  people.  When  the  time  came,  he 
went  up  into  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  all  the  men 
of  Judah,  and  all  the  men  of  Jerusalem  with  him,  and 
the  priests  and  the  prophets,  and  all  the  people,  both 
small  and  great,  and  he  read  in  their  ears  all  the 
words  of  the  book  of  the  covenant  which  was  found 
in  the  house  of  the  Lord.  It  was  an  august  assembly, 
and  a  most  solemn  occasion.  It  was  the  first  step  in 
the  reformation.  Josiah  next  made  a  tour  through 
the  kingdom,  destroying  all  the  places  of  idolatrous 
worship  as  he  went,  and  commanding  all  the  people 
to  keep  the  passover,  as  enjoined  in  the  book  of  the 
law.  They  hastened  to  obey;  and  the  sacred  histo- 
rian adds,  ''^There  was  not  held  such  a  passover  in 


20  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

the  days  of  the  judges  that  judged  Israel,  nor  in  all 
the  days  of  the  kings  of  Israel."  Externally  it  cer- 
tainly was  a  wonderful  reformation  ;  and  we  have  no 
reason  to  doubt  that  many  truly  repented  and  turned 
unto  the  Lord.  But  again  there  was  an  alarming 
decline,  which  continued  to  increase  for  a  hundred 
years,  till  the  captivity  of  Judah  in  Babylon,  and 
was  not  arrested  till  the  days  of  Ezra  and  Nehe- 
miah. 

Soon  after  the  return  of  the  people  from  their 
long  captivity,  there  was  a  great  reformation.  The 
people  gathered  themselves  together  in  Jerusalem  as 
one  man,  and  called  upon  Ezra  to  bring  out  the  book  of 
the  law  of  Moses,  which  the  Lord  had  commanded  to 
Israel ;  and  he  read  therein  from  morning  till  midday, 
"and  the  ears  of  all  the  people  were  attentive  unto 
the  book  of  the  law.''  And  when  he  opened  the  book 
in  the  sight  of  all  the  people,  they  all  stood  up.  And 
when  he  blessed  the  Lord,  the  great  God,  "  all  the 
people  answered,  Amen,  amen,  lifting  up  their  hands ; 
and  they  bowed  their  heads,  and  worshipped  the 
Lord  with  their  faces  on  the  ground."  And  they 
proved  their  sincerity  by  hastening  to  do  works  meet 
for  repentance.  They  at  once  restored  the  worship 
of  God  which  had  fallen  into  disuse,  and  separated 
themselves  from  the  heathen  family  alliances  which 
they  had  formed  during  the  captivity.  This  was  the 
severest  test  of  all. 

After  that  we  hear  no  more  of  their  idolatries. 
Malachi,  who  lived  a  little  later,  was  the  last  of  the 
Old  Testament  prophets ;  and  for  what  more  we 
know  of  the  religious  state  of  the  Jews  during  the 


JOHN  THE  BAPTIST.  21 

four  subsequent  centuries,  at  the  close  of  which  Shiloh 
came,  we  are  indebted  to  uninspired  writers. 

My  object,  in  these  raj)id  historical  sketches  from 
the  Old  Testament  history,  has  been  to  show  that 
God  preserved  the  church  from  utter  apostasy  by 
special  seasons  of  reformation,  after  long  intervals  of 
decline.  This  was  the  divine  economy  under  the  Old 
Testament. 

JOHN  THE  BAPTIST. 

Passing  to  the  New  Testament,  we  are  naturally 
led  to  inquire,  what  evidence  there  is,  if  any,  that  the 
same  divine  economy  was  still  to  prevail. 

And  first,  how  was  it  in  the  day  of  John  the  Bap- 
tist ?  Was  there  any  thing  under  his  preaching  like 
what  are  now  called  revivals?  There  was.  "The 
word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  John  in  the  wilderness, 
and  he  came  into  all  the  country  about  Jordan,  preach- 
ing the  baptism  of  repentance  for  the  remission  of 
sins,"  and  under  his  fearless  and  rousing  appeals,  there 
was  a  great  and  general  excitement  among  all  classes 
of  the  people.  The  publicans,  the  soldiers,  and  even 
the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees,  came  to  him  to  be  bap- 
tized, asking,  "  What  shall  we  do?"  It  was  more  like 
a  national  religious  awakening  than  we  have  found 
since  the  days  of  Joshua;  for  as  Matthew  testifies, 
"  Jerusalem,  and  all  Judea,  and  all  the  region  round 
about  Jordan,  went  out  and  were  baptized  in  Jordan, 
confessing  their  sins ;"  and  though  we  have  reason  to 
fear  that  in  many  cases  it  fell  short  of  true  repent- 
ance, we  can  scarcely  doubt,  I  think,  that  many  who 
came  for  baptism,  were  "born  of  water  and  of  the 


22  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

Spirit,"  and  brouglit  forth  good  fruits.  Such  a  gen- 
eral religious  excitement  could  never  have  taken 
place  without  a  supernatural  influence  upon  the  hearts 
of  men.  The  instrument  was  John,  "  crying  in  the 
wilderness,  Repent  ye,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is 
at  hand  f  but  the  excellency  of  the  power  was  of  God. 
It  was  what  would  now  be  called  a  general  revival, 
though  by  no  means  so  pure  as  those  afterwards  in 
the  apostolic  age. 

THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE. 

We  pass  to  the  glorious  "  ministration  of  the  Spir- 
it," given  to  "  abide  "  with  the  church  as  the  charac- 
teristic of  the  Christian  dispensation — a  gift  which 
the  Saviour  promised  to  his  disciples  as  better  than 
his  own  personal  presence.  The  riches  of  this  gift 
were  marvellously  displayed  on  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost, when  thousands  were  converted  and  baptized. 
This  wonderful  scene  was  an  earnest  of  what  might 
be  expected  under  the  faithful  preaching  of  the  gos- 
pel, not  of  course  in  its  visible  miraculous  features, 
but  in  its  awakening  and  saving  power  upon  the 
hearts  of  sinners. 

This  we  know  was  followed  by  a  remarkable  se- 
ries of  revivals  during  the  apostolic  age.  Thus,  in 
the  fourth  chapter  of  Acts,  we  read  that  when  Peter 
and  John  preached  Jesus  and  the  resurrection  from 
the  dead,  many  who  heard  the  word  believed,  and 
the  number  of  men  was  about  five  thousand.  Again, 
in  the  sixth  chapter,  in  connection  with  the  solemn 
service  of  choosing  and  setting  apart  deacons,  "the 
word  of  the  Lord  increased ;  and  the  number  of  the 


THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE.  23 

disciples  multiplied  in  Jerusalem  greatly  ;  and  a  great 
company  of  tlie  priests  were  obedient  to  the  faith." 
In  the  eighth  chapter,  the  disciples,  scattered  by  per- 
secution throughout  the  regions  of  Judea  and  Sama- 
ria, "  went  everywhere  preaching  the  word."  Again, 
chapter  ninth,  "  As  Peter  passed  throughout  all  quar- 
ters, he  came  down  to  the  saints  at  Lydda,"  and  after 
the  healing  of  Eneas,  all  that  saw  him  in  Lydda  and 
Saron,  "turned  to  the  Lord."  Again,  chapter  elev- 
enth, "They  which  were  scattered  abroad  upon  the 
persecutions  that  arose  about  Stephen,  travelled  as 
far  as  Phenice,  and  Cyprus,  and  Antioch,  and  spake 
unto  the  Grecians,  preaching  the  Lord  Jesus.  The 
hand  of  the  Lord  was  with  them ;  and  a  great  num- 
ber believed,  and  turned  unto  the  Lord."  These 
were  all  so  many  glorious  revivals  in  the  midst  of 
the  years  of  the  right  hand  of  the  Most  High.  And 
so  we  may  be  sure  it  was  in  all  the  cities  where  the 
gospel  was  planted  in  the  primitive  age.  Indeed,  it 
is  hardly  conceivable  how  the  gospel  could  otherwise 
have  so  mightily  prevailed  in  so  short  a  time.  That 
was  preeminently  the  revival  epoch  of  the  church. 

Thus  far  we  trace  the  divine  economy  by  the  un- 
erring guide  of  sacred  history.  It  was  not  mainly  by 
isolated  conversions  that  the  churches  were  built  up, 
but  under  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  turning  many 
at  once  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of 
Satan  unto  God. 

In  tracing  the  history  of  the  church  down  through 
the  subsequent  ages,  we  can  look  for  no  further  guid- 
ance of  the  inspired  record ;  but  the  most  obvious 
analogies  would  lead  us  to  expect  that  we  should  find 


24  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

the  same  footsteps  of  Christ  travelling  in  the  great- 
ness of  his  strength  along  his  triumphant  march,  till 
he  shall  have  subdued  all  things  unto  himself. 

The  revival  epoch,  which  began  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  extended  down  through  the  second  and 
into  the  third  century ;  and  though  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory throws  less  light  on  the  subject  than  we  could 
wish,  more  than  enough  is  found  in  the  writings  of 
the  early  fathers  to  show  that  the  Christian  religion 
rapidly  spread  throughout  the  Roman  empire,  and 
even  beyond  its  boundaries,  in  spite  of  all  the  rage 
of  earth  and  hell  to  crush  it  out. 

Pliny  the  younger,  who  was  some  time  governor 
of  Bithynia  under  the  bloody  emperor  Trajan,  ear- 
nestly dissuaded  him  from  persisting  in  his  persecut- 
ing edicts  against  the  Christians  in  that  province,  not 
only  by  assuring  him  that  they  were  a  harmless  peo- 
ple, chargeable  with  no  crime,  "meeting  together  to 
sing  hymns  and  worship  Christ  as  God,"  but  that 
they  were  very  numerous  all  over  the  province,  and 
that  the  more  they  were  punished  the  more  they  in- 
creased. 

Tertullian,  who  lived  a  century  later,  and  died  in 
216,  writing  to  the  Roman  government  in  vindication 
of  the  new  religion,  as  it  was  called,  says,  "  Though 
we  are  strangers  of  no  long  standing,  yet  we  have 
filled  all  places  of  your  dominions,  cities,  islands,  cor- 
porations, councils,  armies,  tribes,  the  senate,  the  pal- 
ace, the  courts  of  judicature.  If  the  Christians  had 
a  mind  to  avenge  themselves,  their  numbers  are  abun- 
dant ;  for  they  have  a  party,  not  in  this  or  that  prov- 


THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE.  25 

ince,  but  in  all  quarters  of  the  world.  Nay,  if  they 
were  to  combine  and  forsake  the  Roman  empire,  how 
vast  would  be  the  loss.  The  world  would  be  amazed 
at  the  solitude  which  would  ensue." 

In  another  place  he  expostulates  thus  with  the 
persecuting  governors  of  Africa :  "  If  you  persevere 
in  your  persecution,  what  will  you  do  with  these 
many  thousands,  both  of  men  and  women  of  every 
rank  and  every  age,  who  will  promptly  offer  them- 
selves?    Carthage  itself  must  be  decimated." 

Once  more,  after  enumerating  the  nations  who 
had  believed  in  Christ,  he  declared  that  the  gospel 
had  penetrated  into  regions  which  were  inaccessible 
even  to  the  eagles  of  Rome.  "  Excellent  governors," 
he  exclaims,  "you  may  torment,  afflict,  and  vex  us; 
your  wickedness  puts  our  weakness  to  the  test,  but 
your  cruelty  is  of  no  avail.  It  is  but  a  stronger  invi- 
tation to  bring  others  to  our  persuasion.  The  more 
we  are  mowed  down,  the  more  we  spring  up  again. 
The  blood  of  the  Christians  is  seed." 

Here  we  have  undeniable  evidence  of  the  rapid 
and  wide  spread  of  the  church  by  the  mighty  power 
of  God  in  what  would  now  be  looked  upon  as  a  mar- 
vellous series  of  revivals  over  many  countries.  The 
main  difference,  compared  with  any  thing  that  has 
been  witnessed  in  these  modern  times,  lies  in  their 
permeating  immensely  greater  populations.  Call 
them  great  reformations^  if  you  will.  It  is  only  an- 
other name,  on  a  vast  scale,  of  what  we  mean  by  the 
word  revivals — turning  "  multitudes,  multitudes,"  al- 
most simultaneously,  from  the  worship  of  dumb  idols, 
from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God. 

Rev.  Sketchs*.  2 


26  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 


CHAPTER  II. 

''THE  GREAT  REFORMATION." 
SIXTEENTH  AND  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURIES. 

During  tlie  tliousand  years  between  the  fifth  and 
the  fifteenth  century,  the  annals  of  the  true  church 
are  so  illegible,  so  interlined  and  interpolated,  so 
blotted  by  the  grossest  superstition,  that  it  is  difficult 
to  trace  her  progress  by  any  light  we  have.  And  yet, 
even  in  that  long  midnight  of  the  world,  the  light 
glimmered  as  it  were  upon  the  tops  of  the  mountains, 
and  now  and  then  broke  out  from  the  gloom,  illumi- 
nating the  promises  when  it  seemed  as  if  "the  mer- 
cies of  God  were  clean  gone  for  ever."  He  who  was 
with  the  church  in  the  wilderness  during  her  forty 
years'  wanderings,  did  not  forsake  her,  but  kept  the 
pillar  of  cloud  and  fire  over  her  till  she  emerged  into 
the  glorious  morning  of  the  Protestant  Eeformation. 

Thus  the  gospel  was  wonderfully  preserved  among 
the  Waldenses  of  Italy  and  the  Culdees  of  Britain. 
In  the  thirteenth  century  there  must  have  been  great 
revivals,  for  in  Bohemia  alone,  where  the  gospel  had 
won  its  way,  there  were  reckoned,  in  1315,  no  less 
than  80,000  witnesses  for  the  truth.  So  again  in  the 
fourteenth  century,  John  Wycklifif,  "  the  morning-star 
of  the  Reformation,"  heralded  the  day-spring  in  our 
fatherland,  and  many  turned  to  the  Lord.  So  was  it 
also  in  the  fiftcQnth  century,  under  the  labors  of  John 
Huss  and  Jerome  of  Praji'ue.  and  more  signally  still 


SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.  27 

in  the  great  religious  revolution  which  a  hundred 
years  later  shook  the  Papal  throne  to  its  foundations, 
through  the  instrumentality  of  Luther,  Zwingle,  Cal- 
vin, and  the  other  illustrious  reformers  of  that  remark- 
able epoch. 

This  reformation  commenced  early  in  the  six- 
teenth century,  and  so  rapidly  did  the  light  of  the 
gospel  spread  over  the  principalities  and  kingdoms 
of  Europe,  so  mightily  did  the  word  of  God  grow 
and  prevail  over  all  opposition,  that  it  has  ever  since 
been  called  The  Great  Reformation  ;  and  it  was  no 
less  than  a  wide-spread  and  glorious  revival.  It  was 
the  reappearance  of  the  divine  economy  in  carrying 
forward  the  work  of  redemption. 

The  night  of  the  middle  ages  had  been  so  long, 
that  it  seemed  as  if  the  day  would  never  dawn.  But 
the  rising  of  the  sun,  glancing  from  land  to  land, 
proved  that  "  God  is  not  slack  concerning  his  prom- 
ises." The  prince  of  darkness  could  no  longer  hold 
all  the  nations  in  bondage.  "  The  man  of  sin,*'  drunk 
with  the  blood  of  saints  and  martyrs,  and  "exalting 
himself  above  all  that  is  called  God  and  is  worship- 
ped," received  a  deadly  wound,  of  which  he  has  never 
been  fully  healed  and  never  will  be. 

The  Protestant  Reformation  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, under  Martin  Luther  as  the  first  and  chief  in- 
strument, was  a  religious  revival  on  a  vast  scale.  No 
other  word  so  well  expresses  it.  "Never  certainly, 
since  the  days  of  the  early  Christians,"  says  Rev.  Dr. 
James  W.  Alexander,  "was  there  so  wide-spread  a 
concern  about  religion.  Never  were  there  so  many 
conversions.      The  published  correspondence  of  the 


28  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

reformers,  and  particularly  of  Martin  Luther  and 
John  Calvin,  shows  that  a  large  part  of  their  time 
was  employed  in  giving  counsel  to  inquiring  souls. 
All  the  good  and  great  men  who  were  the  chief  in- 
struments in  this  amazing  revival  felt  and  avowed 
that  it  was  entirely  of  God,  and  that  nothing  but  the 
omnipotent  Spirit  would  have  produced  the  change 

which  they  observed  and  experienced So  rapid 

was  the  progress  of  it,  that  in  less  than  forty  years, 
in  face  of  the  united  opposition  of  the  church  and  the 
empire,  against  all  proscription,  in  spite  of  rack  and 
fagot,  the  principles  of  evangelical  religion  had  over- 
spread Germany,  France,  Switzerland,  Holland,  and 
the  British  isles.  It  was  an  outpouring  of  the  Spirit, 
under  which  the  mountains  flowed  down  at  His  pres- 
ence ;  it  was  a  converting  power  that  was  acknow- 
ledged by  tribes  and  nations. 

"The  remarkable  condition  of  religious  things 
among  our  Puritan  and  Scottish  ancestors,  was  the  sim- 
ple consequence  of  this  reformation  revival  prosper- 
ously carried  out  and  made  permanent.     The  work 

of  grace  was  upon  the  hearts  of  multitudes 

North  America  was  planted  by  Protestants,  and 
largely  by  a  race  of  men  whose  activity  owned  evan- 
gelical religion  as  its  animating  principle.  They 
came  out  from  the  midst  of  great  awakenings,  and 
every  arrival  from  the  old  country  brought  them 
news  of  the  revivals  which  took  place  under  the  Bun- 
yans  and  Baxters  of  England. 

"  In  Scotland,  religion  made  its  progress  in  a  kind 

of  triumphal  march The  subjugation  of  a  whole 

people  within  a  brief  period  to  the  principles  of  the 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY— SCOTLAND.   29 

gospel,  is  proof  that  the  church  was  increased  with 
rapidity,  and  by  large  accessions ;  in  other  words, 
that  there  was  a  great  revival  throughout  the  king- 
dom, in  the  modern  sense  of  the  term." 

Thus,  in  looking  back  three  hundred  years  from 
our  present  stand-point  upon  that  mighty  upheaving 
of  the  moral  world,  "  known  and  read  of  all  men"  as 
THE  Great  Reformation,  and  making  every  abate- 
ment for  its  not  having  accomplished  all  that  could 
have  been  desired,  it  is  past  controversy  that  it  was  the 
most  remarkable  Christian  epoch  since  the  days  of  the 
apostles.  One  of  its  main  features  was  the  resurrec- 
tion, as  it  were,  of  the  cardinal  doctrine  of  Justifica" 
Hon  hy  Faith  done,  which  being  once  disinterred  from 
the  Popish  rubbish  under  which  it  had  been  buried 
for  more  than  eight  centuries,  the  combined  efforts  of 
earth  and  hell  have  not  been  able  to  force  back  into 
the  old  charnel-house  of  penances  and  purgatory. 

SCOTLAND— KIRK  OF  SHOTTS,  1625-8. 

The  influence  of  the  Great  Reformation  most  dis- 
tinctly appeared,  the  next  century,  in  England,  Scot- 
land, and  Ireland.  In  the  reign  of  Charles  I.,  there 
was  a  great  persecution  of  the  saints  in  Scotland 
who  adhered  to  the  faith  of  their  pious  fathers.  The 
king  and  his  counsellors  were  determined  at  all  haz- 
ards to  enforce  Conformity  there,  as  well  as  in  Eng- 
land, to  the  national  establishment.  They  doubtless 
would  have  prevailed,  had  not  the  Lord  raised  up 
witnesses  for  the  truth,  in  the  spirit  of  John  Knox  in 
the  preceding  century,  and  with  much  of  his  power. 
To  all  human  appearance,  that  cruel  usurpation  would 


30  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

have  been  fastened  upon  that  kingdom,  but  for  re- 
markable divine  interpositions,  the  most  signal  of 
which  was  the  great  revival  of  vital  religion  which 
began  in  Stewarton,  in  1625,  and  lasted  about  five 
years. 

"This,"  says  Fleming  in  his  Fulfilling  of  Scrip- 
ture, "was,  by  the  profane  rabble  of  that  time,  called 
the  Stewarton  siclmess;  for  in  that  parish  first,  but 
afterwards  through  much  of  that  country,  particu- 
larly at  Irvine  under  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Dickson, 
it  was  remarkable,  where  it  can  be  said  that  for  a 
considerable  time  few  Sabbaths  did  pass  without  some 
evidently  converted,  or  some  convincing  proof  of  the 
power  of  God  accompanying  his  word.  And  truly 
this  great  spring  tide,  as  I  may  call  it,  of  the  gospel, 
was  not  of  a  short  time,  but  of  some  years'  continu- 
ance ;  yea,  thus,  like  a  spreading  moor-burn,  the  power 
of  godliness  did  advance  from  one  place  to  another, 
which  put  a  marvellous  lustre  on  those  parts  of  the 
country,  the  savor  wliereof  brought  many  from  other 
parts  of  the  land  to  see  its  truth." 

"Another  token  for  good  to  the  suffering  church 
of  Scotland,  occurred  in  the  year  1628.  At  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Synod  of  Edinburgh,  in  the  spring  of  that 
year,  it  had  been  agreed  upon  to  apply  to  his  majesty 
that  a  general  fast  might  be  held  all  over  the  king- 
dom. The  ostensible  causes  adduced  for  this  pro- 
posal, were  the  dangerous  state  of  the  Protestant 
churches  abroad,  and  the  prevalence  of  vice  and  im- 
morality at  home.  To  these  causes  the  Presbyterians 
naturally  added  the  consideration  of  their  own  suf- 
fering state,  and  of  the  oppressive  innovations  im- 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY— SCOTLAND.       31 

posed  upon  the  people.  Mucli  of  the  searching  power 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  seems  to  have  been  granted  to  both 
ministers  and  people  during  their  solemn  fast,  and 
many  felt  that  in  humbling  themselves  before  God 
and  making  an  earnest  confession  of  sin,  both  national 
and  individual,  they  obtained  strength  not  their  own, 
a  spiritual  strength  preparing  them  for  greater  suffer- 
ings, and  giving  earnest  of  final  deliverance. 

"  In  no  individual  instance,  probably,  was  the  power 
of  the  Spirit  more  signally  displayed  than  at  the  kirk 
of  Shotts,  on  Monday,  the  first  of  June,  1630.  It  ap- 
pears that  John  Livingstone,  a  young  man  about  twen- 
ty-seven years  of  age,  who  was  at  that  time  domestic 
chaplain  of  the  Countess  of  Wigton,  had  gone  to  at- 
tend the  dispensation  of  the  Lord's  supper  at  the  kirk 
of  Shotts.  There  had  been  a  great  confluence  of 
both  ministers  and  people  from  all  the  adjacent  coun- 
try, and  the  sacred  services  of  the  communion-sabbath 
had  been  marked  with  much  solemnity  of  manner,  and 
great  apparent  depth  and  sincerity  of  devotional  feel- 
ing. When  the  Monday  came,  the  large  assembly  of 
pious  Christians  felt  reluctant  to  part  without  an- 
other day  of  thanksgiving  to  that  God  whose  redeem- 
ing love  they  had  been  commemorating.  Livingstone 
was  prevailed  upon  to  preach,  though  reluctant  and 
with  heavy  misgivings  of  mind  at  the  thought  of  his 
own  unworthiness  to  address  so  many  experienced. 
Christians.  He  even  endeavored  to  withdraw  him- 
self secretly  from  the  multitude,  but  a  strong  con- 
straining impulse  within  his  mind  caused  him  to  re- 
turn and  proceed  with  the  duty  to  which  he  had  been 
appointed. 


32  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

"  Towards  the  close  of  the  sermou,  the  audience, 
and  even  the  preacher  himself,  were  affected  with  a 
deep,  unusual  awe,  melting  their  hearts  and  subduing 
their  minds,  stripping  off  inveterate  prejudices,  awak- 
ing the  impenitent,  producing  conviction  in  the  hard- 
ened, bowing  down  the  stubborn,  and  imparting  to 
many  an  enlightened  Christian  a  large  increase  of 
grace  and  spirituality." 

"  It  was  known,"  says  Fleming,  "  as  I  can  speak 
on  sure  ground,  that  nearly  j^i;e  hundred  had  at  that 
time  a  discernible  change  wrought  on  them,  of  whom 
most  proved  lively  Christians  afterwards.  It  was 
the  sowing  of  a  seed  through  Clydesdale,  so  that 
many  of  the  most  eminent  Christians  of  that  country 
could  date  their  conversion,  or  some  remarkable  cou' 
firmation  of  their  case,  from  that  day. 

"Mr.  Livingstone,  the  honored  instrument  by  which 
this  great  work  was  wrought,  was  one  against  whom 
the  tyranny  of  the  suspicious  prelates  had  been  di- 
rected. Spottswood  drove  him  away  from  his  beloved 
charge  in  Torphichen.  But  in  every  case  of  contest 
between  right  and  wrong,  the  most  politic  measure 
will  prove  injurious  to  those  who  employ  it.  When 
such  men  as  Livingstone  were  driven  from  a  parish, 
they  were  compelled  to  extend  their  influence  over  a 
wider  sphere  than  would  otherwise  have  been  possible. 

"Not  unfrequently,  as  in  his  case,  they  were  re- 
ceived into  the  families  of  some  of  the  nobility,  where 
their  unassuming  manners  and  deep  personal  piety 
produced  the  most  beneficial  results,  both  to  their  pro- 
tectors and  the  cause  for  which  they  suffered.  In 
this  manner  the  ejected   ministers,  by  their  fervent 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY— IRELAND.    33 

and  widely  diffused  labors,  did  much  to  prepare  the 
great  body  of  the  nation  for  that  struggle  and  revul- 
sion which  was  erelong  to  take  place." 

Thus  it  was  when,  after  the  martyrdom  of  Ste- 
phen, there  was  a  great  persecution  of  the  church  in 
Jerusalem,"  the  disciples  "  went  everywhere  preaching 
the  word,"  and  many  were  turned  unto  the  Lord  who 
might  otherwise  never  have  been  converted. 

NORTH  OF  IRELAND,  1625. 

In  1625,  there  was  also  a  remarkable  revival  in 
the  North  op  Ireland.*  It  took  place  under  the 
labors  of  a  band  of  faithful  ministers,  most  of  whom 
went  over  from  Scotland — Brice,  Glendenning,  Ridge, 
Blair,  and  others. 

The  province  of  Ulster,  which  has  ever  since  been 
the  brightest  spot  on  the  map  of  Ireland,  was,  when 
this  reformation  began,  in  a  deplorable  state  of  igno- 
rance and  ungodliness.  A  great  number  of  those 
who  came  over  from  England  with  the  original  pro- 
prietors and  occupied  their  lands,  were  openly  pro- 
fane and  immoral,  and  generally  inattentive  to  the 
institutions  of  the  gospel.  The  following  descrip- 
tion of  the  character  of  the  population  is  given  by 
Stewart. 

"From  Scotland,"  he  says,  "and  from  England 
not  a  few,  yet  all  of  them  generally  the  scum  of  both 
nations,  from  debt,  or  breaking,  fleeing  from  justice, 
or  seeking  shelter,  came  hither,  hoping  to  be  without 
fear  of  man's  justice,  in  a  land  where  there  was  noth- 

*  See  Dr.  James  S.  Reid's  History  of  the   Presbyterian 
Church  in  Ireland,  vol.  I. 

2* 


34  KEVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

ing,  or  but  little  as  yet  of  the  fear  of  God.  Most  of 
the  people  were  all  void  of  godliness,  who  seemed 
rather  to  flee  from  God  in  this  enterprise  than  to 
follow  their  own  mercy. 

''Thus  on  all  hands  atheism  increased  and  disre- 
gard of  God,  iniquity  abounded,  with  contention, 
fighting,  murder,  adultery,  etc. ;  and  as  they  had 
nothing  within  them  to  overawe  them,  so  their  minis- 
ters' example  was  worse  than  nothing ;  '  for  from  the 
prophets  of  Israel  profaneness  went  forth  into  all  the 
land.'  Thus  it  was,  that  when  any  man  would  have 
expected  nothing  but  God's  judgment  to  have  fol- 
lowed this  crew  of  sinners,  behold,  the  Lord  visited 
them  in  admirable  mercy,  the  like  whereof  had  not 
been  anywhere  seen  for  many  generations." 

This  account  is  confirmed  by  Blair,  who  says, 
"  The  mercy  (alluded  to  by  Stewart)  consisted  in  the 
band  of  faithful  ministers  who  were  now  encouraged 
to  take  their  lot  in  Ulster,  and  whose  labors  were 
remarkably  blessed  to  the  converting  of  many  out  of 
so  profane  and  godless  a  multitude.  Seven  ministers 
constituted  the  first  band,  who  labored  with  apostolic 
earnestness  to  remove  the  ignorance,  formality,  and 
profaneness  which  characterized  the  greater  part  of 
the  early  colonists.  Possessed  of  the  true  missionary 
spirit,  and  inspired  with  a  holy  zeal  to  propagate  the 
gospel,  they  commenced  with  vigor  the  work  of  evan- 
gelizing the  land ;  and  though  few  in  number  and  beset 
with  many  difficulties,  they  were  favored  with  an  ex- 
traordinary, if  not  unprecedented  measure  of  success. 

"  It  was  not  long  before  their  labors  began  to  be 
visibly  blessed.     A  remarkable  improvement  in  the 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY— IRELAND.  35 

habits  and  demeanor  of  the  people  was  speedily  effect- 
ed. The  thoughtless  were  roused  to  serious  inquiry 
on  the  subject  of  religion,  and  the  careless  were 
alarmed ;  the  profane  were  in  a  great  measure . 
silenced,  and  the  immoral  reclaimed ;  while  the  obsti- 
nate opposers  of  the  gospel  were  converted  into  its 
willing  and  decided  supporters.  This  spirit  of  relig- 
ious inquiry  and  reformation,  which  in  a  short  time 
pervaded  a  considerable  portion  of  the  counties  of 
Down  and  Antrim,  was  no  doubt  the  result  of  that 
devotedness  and  fidelity  by  which  the  ministers  in 
this  part  of  Ulster  were  so  eminently  distinguished ; 
yet  it  appears  to  have  first  manifested  itself  under  the 
ministry  of  the  weakest  of  these  brethren,  whose  lim- 
ited attainments  and  ill-regulated  zeal  were  providen- 
tially overruled  for  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel." 

"  This,"  says  Mr.  Stewart,  "  was  the  Lord's  choice, 
to  begin  with  him  the  admirable  work  of  God,  which 
I  mention  on  purpose  that  all  men  may  see  how  the 
glory  is  only  the  Lord's  in  making  a  holy  nation  in 
this  profane  land,  and  that  it  was  '  not  by  might,  nor 
by  power,'  nor  by  man's  wisdom,  '  but  by  my  Spirit, 
saith  the  Lord.' 

"At  Oldstone,  God  made  use  of  him  to  awaken 
the  consciences  of  a  lewd  and  secure  people  there- 
abouts; for,  seeing  their  character,  he  preached  to 
them  nothing  but  law,  wrath,  and  the  terrors  of  God 
for  sin ;  and  in  very  deed  for  this  only  was  he  fitted, 
for  hardly  could  he  preach  any  other  thing.  But  be- 
hold the  success :  for  the  hearers,  finding  themselves 
condemned  by  the  mouth  of  God  speaking  in  his 
word,  fell  into  such  anxiety  and  terror  of  conscience, 


36  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

that  they  looked  on  themselves  as  altogether  lost  and 
damned ;  and  this  work  appeared  not  in  one  single 
person  or  two,  but  multitudes  were  brought  to  under- 
stand their  way,  and  to  cry  out,  'Men  and  brethren, 
what  shall  we  do  to  be  saved?'  And  of  these  were 
some  of  the  boldest  spirits,  who  formerly  feared  not 
with  their  swords  to  put  a  whole  market-town  in 
affray.  I  have  heard  one  of  them,  then  a  mighty 
strong  man,  now  a  mighty  Christian,  say  that  his  end 
in  coming  to  church  was  to  consult  with  his  compan- 
ions how  to  work  some  mischief;  and  yet  at  one  of 
those  sermons  was  he  so  catched,  that  he  was  fully 
subdued.  But  why  do  I  speak  of  him?  We  knew, 
and  yet  know,  multitudes  of  such  men,  who  sinned, 
and  still  gloried  in  it,  because  they  feared  no  man, 
yet  are  now  patterns  of  sobriety,  fearing  sin  because 
they  fear  God.  And  this  spread  through  the  country 
to  admiration,  especially  about  that  river  commonly 
called  the  Six  Mile  water,  for  there  this  work  began 
at  first. 

"These  religious  agitations  continued  for  a  con- 
siderable time.  The  ministers  were  indefatigable  in 
improving  the  favorable  opportunities  thus  offered  for 
extending  the  knowledge  and  influence  of  the  gospel. 
The  people  awakened  and  inquiring,  many  of  them 
desponding  and  alarmed,  both  desired  and  needed 
guidance  and  instruction.  The  judicious  exhibition 
of  evangelical  doctrines  and  promises  by  these  faith- 
ful men  was  in  due  time  productive  of  those  happy 
and  tranquillizing  effects  which  were  early  predicted 
as  the  characteristics  of  gospel  times.  Adopting  the 
beautiful  imagery  of  the  prophets,  the  broken-hearted 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY— IRELAND.         37 

were  bound  up  and  comforted,  the  spirit  of  bondage 
and  of  fear  gave  way  to  a  spirit  of  freedom  and  of 
love,  the  oil  of  joy  was  poured  forth  instead  of 
mourning,  and  the  spirit  of  heaviness  exchanged  for 
the  garments  of  praise  and  thankfulness.  As  the 
people  emerged  from  the  anxiety  and  alarm  produced 
by  the  stern  preaching  of  the  law,  and  gradually 
experienced  the  hope  of  the  gospel,  they  would  be 
naturally  led  to  maintain  among  themselves  a  closer 
religious  fellowship  than  they  had  done;  and  this 
proved  to  be  the  case.  Hence  originated  those  month- 
ly meetings  at  Antrim  which  afterwards  attracted  so 
much  attention,  and  which  in  the  mean  time  tended 
materially  to  strengthen  and  consolidate  the  good 
work  that  had  been  commenced." 

The  men  whom  God  employed  to  carry  on  that 
great  work  were  instant  in  season  and  out  of  season, 
laboring  to  instruct  their  people  and  promote  vital 
religion,  with  a  singleness  of  purpose  and  intensity 
of  desire  and  untiring  diligence,  which,  if  ever  equal- 
led, has  at  least  been  seldom  surpassed.  Blair  thus 
describes  his  ministerial  labors  at  Bangor:  "My 
charge  was  very  great,  about  six  miles  in  length,  and 
containing  above  twelve  hundred  persons  come  to 
age,  besides  children  who  stood  greatly  in  need  of 
instruction.  This  being  the  case,  I  preached  twice 
every  week,  besides  the  Lord's  day,  on  all  which 
occasions  I  found  little  difficulty  either  as  to  matter 
or  method.  But  finding  still  that  this  fell  short  of 
reaching  the  design  of  the  gospel  ministry,  and  that 
the  most  part  continued  vastly  ignorant,  I  saw  the 
necessity  of  trying  the  more  plain  and  familiar  way 


38  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

of  instructing  them ;  and  therefore,  besides  my  public 
preaching,  I  spent  as  much  time  every  week  as  my 
bodily  strength  could  hold  out  with  in  exhorting  and 
catechizing  them.  The  knowledge  of  God  increasing 
among  the  people,  and  the  ordinance  of  prayer  being 
precious  in  their  eyes,  the  work  of  the  Lord  did  pros- 
per in  the  place.  And  in  this  we  were  very  much 
encouraged,  both  by  the  assistance  of  holy  Mr.  Cun- 
ningham and  by  the  good  example  of  his  little  parish 
of  Holywood ;  for  knowing  that  diversity  of  gifts  is 
entertaining  to  the  hearers,  he  and  I  did  frequently 
preach  for  one  another,  and  we  also  agreed  to  cele- 
brate the  Lord's  supper  four  times  in  each  of  our  con- 
gregations annuall}»  so  that  those  in  both  parishes 
who  were  thriving  in  religion  did  communicate 
together  on  all  these  occasions." 

The  religious  sentiments  of  all  these  ministers 
were  those  usually  called  Calvinistic,  which  at  this 
period  were  maintained  throughout  the  three  national 
churches  of  the  empire.  A  delightful  harmony  also 
prevailed. 

"Among  all  the  ministers,"  says  Livingstone, 
"  there  was  never  any  jar  or  jealousy  ;  yea,  nor  among 
the  professors,  the  greater  part  of  them  being  Scots, 
and  some  good  number  of  very  gracious  English,  all 
whose  contention  was  to  prefer  others  to  themselves  ; 
and  although  the  gifts  of  the  ministers  were  much 
different,  yet  it  was  not  observed  that  the  people  fol- 
lowed any  to  the  undervaluing  of  others.  Many  of 
these  religious  professors  had  been  both  ignorant  and 
profane,  and  for  debt  and  want,  and  worse  causes, 
had  left  Scotland.     Yet  the  Lord  was  pleased  by  his 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY— IRELAND.  39 

word  to  work  such  a  change,  that  I  do  not  think 
there  were  more  lively  experienced  Christians  than 
were  there  at  this  time  in  Ireland.  Being  but  lately- 
brought  in,  the  lively  edge  was  not  yet  gone  off  them, 
and  the  perpetual  fear  that  the  bishops  would  take 
away  their  ministers  made  them  with  great  hunger 
wait  on  the  ordinances." 

The  singular  success  which  attended  the  preaching 
of  the  word  at  this  period,  is  also  attested  by  another 
writer,  who  says,  "I  shall  here  instance  that  great 
and  solemn  work  of  God  which  was  in  the  church  of 
Ireland  about  the  year  1628,  and  some  years  there- 
after, which  may  with  propriety  be  said  to  have  been 
one  of  the  largest  manifestations  of  the  Spirit,  and  of 
the  most  solemn  times  of  the  down-pouring  thereof, 
that  almost  since  the  days  of  the  apostles  hath  been 
seen.  Then  it  was  sweet  and  easy  for  Christians  to 
come  thirty  or  forty  miles  to  the  solemn  communions 
which  they  had,  and  there  continue,  from  the  time 
they  came  till  they  returned,  without  wearying  or 
making  use  of  sleep  ;  yea,  with  but  little  either  meat 
or  drink,  and  as  some  of  them  professed,  they  did  not 
feel  the  need  thereof,  but  went  away  most  fresh  and 
vigorous,  their  souls  so  filled  with  the  sense  of  God." 

This  remarkable  revival  in  the  north  of  Ireland, 
of  which  I  do  not  remember  to  have  met  with  any 
account  till  lately,  so  strikingly  resembles  in  all  its 
essential  features  those  with  which  I  have  been  famil- 
iar now  for  more  than  half  a  century,  that  the  narra- 
tive strikes  me  as  a  familiar  acquaintance,  and  I  can- 
not doubt  that  it  was  wrought  by  "one  and  the  self- 
same Spirit." 


40  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

ENGLAND. 

At  the  same  time  that  God  was  so  gloriously 
reviving  his  work  in  Scotland  and  Ireland,  about  the 
middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  he  was  raising  up 
a  host  of  mighty  champions  for  the  truth  in  England. 
The  persecution  which  raged  so  furiously  against  the 
Non-conformists,  headed  under  the  crown  by  such 
instruments  as  Archbishop  Laud  and  Jeffries,  and 
especially  the  "Act  of  Uniformity,"  passed  in  1662, 
with  the  "Five  Mile  Act,"  by  which  two  thousand 
godly  pastors  were  forbidden  to  labor  within  five 
miles  of  their  own  churches,  was  a  mighty  struggle ; 
but  instead  of  crushing  and  silencing  the  witnesses, 
the  pent-up  fire  broke  out  even  in  their  sufferings  and 
imprisonments  into  a  flame  that  was  to  enlighten  and 
bless  all  coming  generations.  The  Lord  was  on  their 
side,  and  the  gates  of  hell  could  not  prevail  to  blot 
out  their  testimony.  Many  of  them  were  driven 
across  the  ocean  to  America,  here  in  the  wilderness 
to  bear  a  prominent  part  in  laying  the  foundations  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty,  which  have  ever  since  been 
the  bulwark  and  glory  of  our  land. 

It  was  a  great  Protestant  Reformation,  though  it 
had  not,  I  believe,  to  much  extent,  those  distinctive 
revival  features  which  marked  its  progress  in  Scot- 
land and  Ireland. 

Among  the  noble  band  of  confessors  we  find  the 
names  of  Bunyan,  Baxter,  Owen,  Bishop  Hopkins, 
Flavel,  Alleine,  Howe,  and  others,  who  have  not 
been  surpassed  in  any  age  for  talents,  for  theological 
learning,  for  deep  Christian  experience,  and  for  the 
valiant  defence  of  "  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY— ENGLAND.        41 

saints."  We  hazard  little  in  saying  that  for  doc- 
trinal, practical,  and  experimental  religious  instruc- 
tions and  authorship,  it  was  the  golden  age  in  the 
fatherland.  What  other  age  has  produced  so  many 
volumes  full  of  the  marrow  of  the  gospel,  and  indit- 
ed as  it  were  so  close  on  the  verge  of  heaven  ?  What 
thousands  have  been  guided  in  the  Way  of  Life  by 
Bunyan's  "Pilgrim's  Progress/''  and  his  "Grace 
Abounding  to  the  Chief  of  Sinners ;"  and  what  thou- 
sands more  have  had  the  fulness  of  Christ  revealed 
to  them  in  Flavel's  "Fountain  of  Life"  and  "Method 
of  Grace."  What  would  our  own  land  as  well  as 
Great  Britain  have  been  but  for  this  revival  period 
in  the  seventeenth  century?  Who  can  tell  how  much 
of  the  seed  that  was  then  sown  sprung  up  in  that  great 
awakening  which  is  the  subject  of  our  next  chapter  ? 

Of  the  labors  of  these  persecuted  ministers,  we 
find  an  illustrious  example  in  Baxter  at  Kiddermin- 
ster, where  he  wrote  his  "  Reformed  Pastor,"  a  stand- 
ard work  for  those  who  would  witness  the  fruit  of 
revivals  in  any  age. 

Having  been  separated  from  his  people  in  the 
violent  political  agitations  and  confusion  of  the  times, 
and  been  brought  near  to  death,  when  he  wrote  his 
"Saints'  Everlasting  Rest,"  he  at  length  resumed  his 
charge  at  Kidderminster.  In  his  own  account  of  his 
labors  among  them  during  fourteen  years,  he  says, 

"I  preached  before  the  wars  twice  each  Lord's 
day;  but  after  the  war,  but  once,  and  once  every 
Thursday,  besides  occasional  sermons.  Every  Thurs- 
day evening,  my  neighbors  that  were  most  desirous 
and  had  opportunity,  met  at  my  house  and  there  one 


42  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

of  them  repeated  the  sermon;  and  afterwards  they 
proposed  what  doubts  any  of  them  had  about  the  ser- 
mon, or  any  other  case  of  conscience,  and  I  resolved 
their  doubts.  And  last  of  all,  I  caused  sometimes 
one  and  sometimes  another  of  them  to  pray,  some- 
times praying  with  them  myself.  Once  a  week  also, 
some  of  the  young,  who  were  not  prepared  to  pray  in 
so  great  an  assemHy,  met  among  a  few  more  private- 
ly, where  they  spent  three  hours  in  prayer  together. 
Every  Saturday  night  they  met  at  some  of  their 
houses  to  repeat  the  sermon  of  the  last  Lord's  day, 
and  to  pray  and  prepare  themselves  for  the  following 
day.  Once  in  a  few  weeks  we  had  a  day  of  humilia- 
tion, on  one  occasion  or  other.  Two  days  every  week 
my  assistant  and  myself  took  fourteen  families  be- 
tween us  for  private  catechizing  and  conference,  he 
going  through  the  parish,  and  the  town  coming  to  me. 
I  first  heard  them  recite  the  words  of  the  catechism, 
and  then  examined  them  about  the  sense ;  and  lastly 
urged  them,  with  all  possible  engaging  reason  and 
vehemence,  to  answerable  affection  and  practice.  If 
any  of  them  were  perplexed  through  ignorance  or 
bashfulness,  I  forbore  to  press  them  any  farther  to 
answers,  but  made  them  hearers,  and  either  examined 
others,  or  turned  all  into  instruction  and  exhortation. 
I  spent  about  an  hour  with  a  family,  and  admitted  no 
others  to  be  present,  lest  bashfulness  should  make  it 
burdensome,  or  any  should  talk  of  the  weaknesses  of 
others ;  so  that  all  the  afternoon,  on  Mondays  and 
Tuesdays,  I  spent  in  this ;  and  my  assistant  spent  the 
mornings  of  the  same  days  in  the  same  way." 

*'  I  have  mentioned  my  sweet  and  acceptable  em- 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY— ENGLAND.         43 

ployment ;  let  me,  to  the  praise  of  my  gracious  Lord, 
acquaint  you  with  some  of  my  success.  My  public 
preaching  met  with  an  attentive,  diligent  auditory. 
Having  broke  over  the  brunt  of  the  opposition  of  the 
rabble  before  the  wars,  I  found  them  afterwards  trac- 
table and  unprejudiced. 

"Before  I  ever  entered  into  the  ministry,  God 
blessed  my  private  conference  to  the  conversion  of 
some,  who  remain  firm  and  eminent  in  holiness  to  this 
day.  Then,  and  in  the  beginning  of  my  ministry,  I 
was  wont  to  number  them  as  jewels  :  but  since  then  I 
could  not  keep  any  number  of  them. 

"The  congregation  was  usually  full,  so  that  we 
were  led  to  build  five  galleries  after  my  coming 
hither,  the  church  itself  being  very  capacious,  and 
the  most  commodious  and  convenient  that  ever  I  was 
in.  Our  private  meetings  also  were  full.  On  the 
Lord's  day  there  was  no  disorder  to  be  seen  in  the 
streets,  but  you  might  hear  a  hundred  families  singing 
psalms  and  repeating  sermons  as  you  passed  through 
the  streets.  In  a  word,  when  I  came  thither  first, 
there  was  about  one  family  in  a  street- that  worship- 
ped God  and  called  on  his  name ;  and  when  I  came 
away,  there  were  some  streets  where  there  was  not 
more  than  one  family  in  the  side  of  a  street  that  did 
not  so,  and  that  did  not,  in  professing  serious  godli- 
ness, give  us  hopes  of  their  sincerity.  And  of  those 
families  which  were  the  worst,  being  inns  and  ale- 
houses, usually  some  persons  in  each  did  seem  to  be 
religious.  Though  our  administration  of  the  Lord's 
supper  was  so  orderly  as  displeased  many,  and  the  far 
greater  part  kept  themselves  away,  yet  we  had  six 


44  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

hundred  that  were  communicants,  of  whom  there  were 
not  twelve  that  I  had  not  good  hopes  of  as  to  their 
sincerity  ;  and  those  few  that  came  to  our  communion 
and  yet  lived  scandalously,  were  excommunicated 
afterwards.  And  I  hope  there  were  many  who  feared 
God  that  came  not  to  our  communion,  some  of  them 
being  kept  off  by  husbands,  by  parents,  by  masters, 
and  some  dissuaded  by  men  that  differed  from  us. 

"When  I  commenced  personal  conference  with 
each  family  and  catechizing  them,  there  were  very 
few  families  in  all  the  town  that  refused  to  come ; 
and  those  few  were  beggars  at  the  town's  ends,  who 
were  so  ignorant  that  they  were  ashamed  it  should 
be  manifest.  And  few  families  went  from  me  without 
some  tears  or  seemingly  serious  promises  for  a  godly 
life.  Yet  many  ignorant  and  ungodly  persons  there 
were  still  among  us ;  but  most  of  them  were  in  the 
parish,  and  not  in  the  town,  and  in  those  parts  of  the 
parish  which  were  farthest  from  the  town.  Some  of 
the  poor  men  competently  understood  the  body  of 
divinity,  and  were  able  to  judge  in  difficult  contro- 
versies. Some  of  them  were  so  able  in  prayer  that 
very  few  ministers  equalled  them  in  order  and  ful- 
ness, apt  expressions,  holy  oratory,  and  fervency.  A 
great  number  of  them  were  able  to  pray  very  appro- 
priately with  their  families,  or  with  others.  The 
temper  of  their  minds,  and  the  correctness  of  their 
lives,  were  even  more  commendable  than  their  talents. 
The  professors  of  serious  godliness  were  generally  of 
very  humble  minds  and  conduct,  of  meek  and  quiet 
behavior  towards  others,  and  blameless  in  their  con- 
versation. 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY— ENGLAND.         45 

"  One  advantage  which  I  had  was  through  the  zeal 
and  diligence  of  the  godly  people  of  the  place,  who 
thirsted  after  the  salvation  of  their  neighbors,  and 
were  in  private  my  assistants;  and  being  dispersed 
through  the  town,  they  were  ready  in  almost  all  com- 
panies, to  repress  seducing  words,  and  to  justify  god- 
liness, and  convince,  reprove,  and  exhort  men  accord- 
ing to  their  needs  ;  and  also  to  teach  them  how  to 
pray,  and  to  help  them  to  sanctify  the  Lord's  day. 
Those  people  that  had  none  in  their  families  who 
could  pray  or  repeat  the  sermons,  went  to  the  houses 
of  their  neighbors  who  could  do  it,  and  joined  with 
them ;  so  that  some  houses  of  the  ablest  men  in  each 
street  were  filled  with  them  that  could  do  nothing 
or  little  in  their  own. 

"And  the  holy,  humble,  blameless  lives  of  the 
religious  was  a  great  advantage  to  me.  The  mali- 
cious people  could  not  say,  Your  professors  here  are 
as  proud  and  covetous  as  any.  But  the  blameless 
lives  of  godly  people  shamed  opposers,  and  put  to 
silence  the  ignorance  of  foolish  men,  and  many  were 
won  by  their  good  conversation.'' 

Among  the  Puritan  worthies  was  Blackerby,  whose 
memoirs  were  blessed  in  kindling  to  higher  Christian 
zeal  the  eminent  Andrew  Fuller,  who  was  a  leading 
spirit  in  establishing  the  monthly  concert  of  prayer 
for  foreign  missions,  and  planting  at  Serampore  the 
first  of  modern  missions  to  India. 


46  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

CHAPTER  III. 

*'THE  GREAT  AWAKENING." 

EIGHTEENTH  CENTUEY— ABOUT   1740. 

Precious  and  permanent  as  were  tlie  fruits  of  the 
great  work  of  God  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and 
though  God  all  along  raised  up  many  valiant  wit- 
nesses for  the  truth,  yet,  for  some  fifty  years,  begin- 
ning towards  the  close  of  that  century,  especially 
through  the  disabilities  enforced  by  the  "  Act  of  Uni- 
formity," and  the  ravages  of  death  among  the  cham- 
pions of  the  gospel,  there  was  a  falling  away  in  the 
Protestant  churches  that  became  extremely  alarming 
to  those  who  still  clung  to  the  ark  of  the  covenant. 
It  was  not  so  much  that  the  Philistines  threatened  to 
come  and  carry  it  away,  as  that  the  priests,  who 
should  have  borne  it  on,  deserted  it  one  after  another, 
and  went  over  to  the  enemy. 

Dr.  Macfarlan,  in  his  History  of  Revivals  in  the 
Eighteenth  Century,  says  in  respect  to  both  England 
and  Scotland,  "About  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  and 
the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  most  of  the 
churches  were  in  a  comparatively  low  state.  The  old 
style  of  preaching  was  being  fast  laid  aside,  and  cold 
formal  addresses,  verging  towards  a  kind  of  Socinian- 
ism,  were  becoming  fashionable." 

Old  Mr.  Hutchison,  who  saw  but  the  beginning 
of  this  progress,  used  to  say,  "  "When  I  compare  the 
times  before  the  Restoration  with  those   since  the 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY.  47 

Kevolution,  I  must  own  that  young  ministers  preach 
accurately  and  methodically;  but  far  more  of  the 
power  and  efficacy  of  the  Spirit  and  the  grace  of  God 
went  along  with  sermons  in  those  days  than  now." 

From  the  Restoration  down  to  the  early  part  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  both  churchmen  and  Non- 
conformists unite  in  deploring  the  decayed  condition 
of  I'cligion  and  morals.* 

Bishop  Burnet  says,  "  I  am  now  in  the  seventieth 
year  of  my  age,  and  as  I  cannot  speak  long  in  the 
world  in  any  sort,  I  cannot  hope  for  a  more  solemn 
occasion  than  this  for  speaking  with  all  due  freedom 
both  to  the  present  and  to  the  succeeding  ages.  I 
cannot  look  on  without  the  deepest  concern,  when  I 
see  the  imminent  ruin  hanging  over  this  church,  and 
by  consequence,  over  the  whole  Reformation.  The 
much  greater  part  of  those  who  come  to  be  ordained 
are  ignorant,  to  a  degree  not  to  be  apprehended  by 
those  who  are  not  obliged  to  know  it.  There  are 
those  who  have  read  some  few  books,  yet  many  seem 
never  to  have  read  the  Scriptures." 

Dr.  Watts  declares  that  there  was  a  general  decay 
of  vital  religion  in  the  hearts  and  lives  of  men,  and 
that  it  was  common  among  dissenters  and  churchmen, 
and  a  matter  of  mournful  observation  among  all  who 
laid  the  cause  of  God  to  heart ;  and  he  called  upon 
every  one  to  use  all  possible  efforts  for  the  recovery 
of  dying  religion  in  the  world.  In  these  sentiments 
it  is  well  known  that  his  endeared  friend  Dr.  Dod- 
dridge fully  sympathized. 

Another  writer  says,  "The  religion  of  nature 
*  See  Stevens'  History  of  ]\fethodism,  vol.  I. 


48  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

makes  up  the  darling  topics  of  our  age,  and  the  relig- 
ion of  Jesus  is  valued  only  for  the  sake  of  that,  and 
only  as  far  as  it  carries  on  the  light  of  nature,  and  is 
a  bare  improvement  of  that  kind  of  light." 

Archbishop  Seeker  says,  "In  this  we  cannot  be 
mistaken,  that  an  open  professed  disregard  has  become 
the  distinguishing  character  of  the  present  age.  Such 
are  the  dissoluteness  and  contempt  of  principle  in  the 
higher  part  of  the  world,  and  the  profligacy,  intem- 
perance, and  fearlessness  in  committing  crimes  in  the 
lower,  as  must,  if  this  torrent  of  impiety  stop  not, 
become  absolutely  fatal.  Christianity  is  ridiculed 
and  railed  at  with  very  little  reserve,  and  the  teach- 
ers of  it  without  any  at  all." 

Bishop  Butler  says,  "It  has  come  to  be  taken 
for  granted  that  Christianity  is  no  longer  a  subject  of 
inquiry;  and  accordingly  it  is  treated  as  if,  in  the 
present  age,  this  were  an  agreed  point  among  all  per- 
sons of  discernment,  and  nothing  remained  but  to  set 
it  up  as  a  principal  subject  for  mirth  and  ridicule." 

Southey  says,  "  The  clergy  had  lost  that  authority 
which  may  always  command  at  least  the  appearance 
of  respect." 

Archbishop  Leighton  spoke  of  the  church  as  a  fair 
carcass  without  a  spirit. 

Isaac  Taylor,  in  his  history  of  Methodism,  says 
that  when  Wesley  appeared,  "the  Anglican  church 
was  an  ecclesiastical  system  under  which  the  people 
of  England  had  lapsed  into  heathenism,  or  a  state 
hardly  to  be  distinguished  from  it." 

Natural  religion  was  the  favorite  study  of  the 
clergy  and  of  the  learned  generally,  and  included 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY— SCOTLAND.    49 

most  of  their  theology.  Collins  and  Tindall  had 
denounced  Christianity  as  priestcraft.  Whiston  pro- 
nounced the  miracles  to  be  Jewish  impositions.  Wool- 
ston  declared  them  to  be  allegories.  Arianism,  So- 
cinianism,  taught  by  such  men  as  Samuel  Clarke  and 
Whiston,  had  become  fashionable  among  the  best  Eng- 
lish thinkers. 

Some  of  the  brightest  names  of  the  times  can  be 
quoted  as  exceptions  to  these  remarks,  but  such  was 
the  general  condition  in  England.  The  higher  classes 
laughed  at  piety,  and  prided  themselves  on  being 
above  what  they  called  its  fanaticism;  the  lower 
classes  were  grossly  ignorant,  and  abandoned  to  vice ; 
while  the  church,  enervated  by  a  universal  decline, 
was  unable  longer  to  give  countenance  to  the  down- 
fallen  cause  of  truth. 

The  night  was  long  and  stormy  ;  but  at  length  the 
day  dawned,  and  the  clouds  began  to  break  away. 

It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  the  most  profound  consider- 
ation, and  of  grateful  praise,  that  God  opened  the 
windows  of  heaven,  and  poured  out  a  blessing  almost 
simultaneously  on  England,  Scotland,  and  America, 
about  the  year  1730. 

SCOTLAND. 

To  begin,  as  in  our  notice  of  the  work  in  the  pre- 
ceding century,  with  Scotland.  The  habitations  of 
horrid  cruelty  abroad,  and  the  abominations  of  immo- 
rality at  home,  began  to  engage  the  public  mind. 
There  were  here  and  there  encouraging  indications 
that  the  Sun  of  righteousness  was  about  to  arise  upon 
the  mountains  and  the  moors  with  healing  in  his  wings. 

Rev.  Sketches.  3 


50  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

Among  other  indications,  Mr.  Eobe  of  Kilsyth 
speaks  of  providential  events  affecting  that  parish, 
and  preparing  the  way  for  what  followed,  as  early  as 
1733  ;  and  the  direct  means  afterwards  blessed,  began 
to  be  used  two  years  before  the  commencement  of  the 
revival. 

In  1740,  (three  years  after  Whitefield's  public  min- 
istry commenced  in  England,)  Mr.  Robe  says,  "  I  be- 
gan to  preach  on  the  doctrine  of  regeneration.  This 
course  of  sermons  was  acceptable  to  the  Lord's  peo- 
ple, and  there  was  more  than  ordinary -seriousness  in 
hearing  them  ;  yet  I  could  see  no  further  fruit.  But 
the  Lord,  who  is  infinitely  wise  and  knoweth  the  end 
from  the  beginning,  was  preparing  us  for  the  uncom- 
mon dispensation  of  the  Spirit,  which  we  looked  not 
for.'' 

About  the  same  time  there  were  similar  encour- 
aging preparations  at  Camhuslang.  Mr.  McCulloch 
the  pastor,  for  nearly  a  twelvemonth  before  the  work 
began,  had  been  preaching  on  those  subjects  which 
tend  most  directly  to  explain  the  nature  and  prove 
the  necessity  of  regeneration.  This  was  the  state  of 
things  in  the  spring  and  summer  of  1741.  The  revi- 
val which  followed  in  Cambuslang,  and  spread  wide- 
ly over  that  part  of  Scotland,  was  as  life  from  the 
dead  to  the  churches.  It  was  unmistakably  com- 
menced and  carried  on  by  the  mighty  power  of  G-od  ; 
and  many,  both  old  and  young,  of  all  classes,  were 
added  to  the  Lord.  The  narrative  before  me  is  so 
deeply  interesting  and  instructive,  that  I  would  glad- 
ly enrich  my  historical  sketches  with  copious  extracts, 
but  want  of  space  forbids.     I  have  only  room  to  say 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY— SCOTLAND.    51 

that  the  glorious  work  in  its  progress  exhibited  all 
the  leading  scriptural  characteristics  of  revivals  be- 
fore and  since,  under  the  faithful  preaching  of  the 
doctrines  of  grace  set  home  upon  the  hearts  of  men 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  worketh  all  things  according 
to  the  counsel  of  his  own  will. 

As  every  tree  is  known  by  its  fruits,  so  is  every 
revival.  We  naturally  and  properly  inquire.  What 
are  its  fruits?  So  in  this  case.  What  were  the 
fruits  of  the  great  revival  just  glanced  at  in  Scotland? 
Mr.  Macfarlan's  History  contains  this  testimony  from 
Rev.  Mr.  McCulloch,  the  faithful  pastor  at  Cambus- 
lang,  which  I  have  much  condensed : 

"First,  all  the  persevering  subjects  of  the  work 
agree  in  professing  faith  in  Christ  as  the  Mediator, 
through  whom  alone  we  can  come  to  God  the  Father, 
through  the  power  and  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit; 
and  secondly,  there  is  evidence  that  in  their  walk 
and  conversation  they  adorned  their  Christian  pro- 
fession. They  have  from  that  time  till  now,  or  till 
the  time  of  their  death,  behaved  as  became  their 
Christian  profession,  with  such  exceptions  as  must 
always  be  made  in  judging  of  imperfect  creatures. 
But  besides  this  general  statement,  the  following  par- 
ticulars are  submitted,  either  on  my  own  personal 
knowledge,  or  good  and  credible  information. 

"  Th^y  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  their  Saviour, 
glorify  their  heavenly  Father,  and  excite  others  to  do 
so  on  their  account,  by  practising  justice  and  charity, 
relative  duties,  public  spiritedness,  humility,  meek- 
ness, patience,  close  and  diligent  attendance  on  gos- 
pel   ordinances,    heavenly-mindedness,    watchfulness 


52  EEYIVAL  SKETCHES. 

against  sin,  especially  against  such  sin  as  easily  besets 
them. 

"Such  as  were  given  to  cursing  and  swearing 
have  laid  aside  the  practice,  learning  to  speak  the 
language  of  heaven,  having  upon  them  a  holy  awe  of 
God  and  of  things  divine.  Such  as  were  accustomed 
to  frequent  taverns,  to  drink,  and  play  at  cards,  etc., 
till  late,  or  it  may  be  morning  hours,  have  for  7iine 
years  past  avoided  all  occasions  of  the  kind,  and  kept 
at  home,  spending  their  evenings  in  Christian  con- 
ference, in  matters  profitable  to  their  families,  and 
in  secret  and  family  devotion.  He  who  was  former- 
ly drunken,  accustomed  to  lie  in  bed  till  eight  or 
nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  sleeping  off  his  night's 
intoxication,  has  for  these  nine  years  been  in  the 
habit  of  getting  up  at  three  or  four  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  of  reading  his  Bible  and  other  good  books, 
of  being  engaged  in  prayer  or  meditation,  till  seven 
or  eight,  when  he  calls  together  his  household  for 
family  devotion,  which  is  again  repeated  in  the  even- 
ing. 

"Those  who  were  formerly  covetous  and  selfish, 
have  acquired  much  of  public  spirit  and  of  concern 
for  the  kingdom  and  glory  of  Christ,  especially  in 
the  salvation  of  sinners ;  and  with  this  view  they  are 
not  only  exemplary  in  their  conduct,  but  useful  to  all 
within  their  reach.  They  contribute  cheerfully,  and 
some  of  them  beyond  their  ability,  at  collections  for 
the  interests  of  religion  or  the  relief  of  the  distressed. 
They  carefully  observe  seasons  fixed  for  the  concert 
for  prayer,  and  join  in  earnest  supplication  for  the 
further  spread  of  the  gospel  and  the  outpouring  of 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY— SCOTLAND.    53 

the  Spirit  on  the  churches.  '  As  new-born  babes,  they 
desire  the  sincere  milk  of  the  word,  that  they  may 
grow  thereby  ;'  flocking  with  eagerness  to  hear  in  their 
different  localities.  The  weekly  lecture  on  Thursday, 
which  was  established  in  this  place  in  1742,  has  been 
continued  ever  since,  summer  and  winter,  even  in  har- 
vest, when  the  reapers  come  running  from  the  fields, 
where  they  have  been  toiling  all  day.  They  are  care- 
ful in  their  preparations  for  the  Lord's  supper,  and 
frequent  in  the  observance.  These  have  been  indeed 
remarkable  times  of  communion  with  God.  This 
people  have  seen  the  goings  of  their  God  and  King  in 
the  sanctuary.  They  have  been  made  to  sit  under 
Christ's  shadow  with  great  delight,  and  his  fruit  has 
been  sweet  to  their  taste.  They  have  been  feasted 
in  the  banqueting-house,  and  his  banner  over  them 
has  been  love. 

"  To  conclude,  they  abound  much  in  prayer, 
both  secret  and  domestic,  and  also  in  the  observance 
of  fellowship  meetings.  In  every  town  or  village 
almost  in  this  country  side,  where  there  is  any  com- 
petent number  of  serious  and  lively  Christians,  and 
where  religion  is  in  a  thriving  state,  many  private 
meetings  are  held.  Common  tradesmen,  who  are 
members  and  who  work  for  so  much  a  day,  allow 
their  employers  to  deduct  so  much  from  the  time  they 
are  absent.  Some  of  these  meetings  besides  have 
also  special  seasons  for  fasting  and  prayer  on  extra- 
ordinary occasions,  such,  for  example,  as  on  receiving 
news  of  heavy  losses,  or  dangers  occurring  to  any  of 
themselves,  or  of  what  threatens  the  interests  of  relig- 
ion ;  and  on  these  occasions  they  enjoy  much  of  the 


54  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

divine  presence,  though  less,  alas,  than  in  former 
times. 

"  Now  to  Him  who  is  able  to  keep  us  from  falling, 
and  to  present  us  faultless  before  the  presence  of  his 
glory  with  exceeding  joy,  to  the  only  wise  God  our 
Saviour,  be  glory  and  majesty,  dominion  and  power, 
both  now  and  for  ever.     Amen." 

To  this  was  added  the  following  attestation,  signed 
by  the  elders  of  the  church : 

"  We  the  undersigned,  elders  and  members  of  the 
kirk  session  of  Cambuslang,  having  heard  the  fore- 
going read  to  us  by  our  pastor,  and  having  maturely 
considered  the  same,  paragraph  by  paragraph,  do 
hereby  make  it  our  own,  being  persuaded  that  it  con- 
tains a  just  and  true  account  of  the  extraordinary 
work  here  in  1742,  and  of  the  comfortable  and  abid- 
ing effects  of  it  on  many,  probably  on  more  than  fcmr 
hundred,  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  attestation,  and 
particularly  as  regards  those  who  lived  in  this  parish 
until  1742,  and  from  that  time  down,  or  till  their 
death,  who  lived,  to  the  best  of  our  knowledge,  as 
becomes  their  profession." 

The  foregoing  is  but  a  hasty  glance  at  the  glo- 
rious revival  which  descended  from  the  opening 
heavens  upon  Scotland,  which  arrested  the  alarm- 
ing progress  of  infidelity  and  ungodliness,  turned 
back  the  captivity  of  scores  of  churches  that  might 
have  remained  in  bondage  even  until  now,  and  re- 
stored to  life  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation,  of 
which  John  Knox  was  the  exponent  and  the  powerful 
advocate.  Perhaps  no  work  in  Scotland  has  borne 
richer  fruits  than  this  of  the  eighteenth  century,  in 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY— ENGLAND.  55 

which  Mr.  McCulloch,  Whitefield,  Robe,  Bonar,  Ham- 
ilton, McKnight,  Gillies,  Alexander,  Anderson,  and 
others  of  kindred  spirit,  bore  a  conspicuous  part. 

ENGLAND  AND  WALES. 

Returning  now  to  England  and  Wales,  we  re- 
call the  lamentations  of  such  men  as  Hutchinson  and 
Burnet  and  Watts  and  Seeker  and  Butler  over  the 
alarming  prevalence  of  infidelity,  ignorance,  and  im- 
morality throughout  the  United  Kingdom  in  the  ear- 
lier part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  To  human  view, 
the  state  of  religion  was  more  hopeless  in  England 
than  in  Scotland.  The  Established  church  scarcely 
had  a  name  to  live,  save  in  her  articles  and  liturgy, 
and  religion  in  the  dissenting  churches  was  at  a  very 
low  ebb.  It  was  evident  that  nothing  short  of  some 
special  interposition  by  the  great  Head  of  the  church 
could  restore  the  fallen  interests  of  Zion. 

But  man's  extremity  is  God's  opportunity,  and 
such  an  interposition  was  at  hand.  God  had  been 
raising  up  three  young  men  in  the  university  of  Ox- 
ford, the  two  brothers  John  and  Charles  Wesley,  and 
George  Whitefield,  to  commence  and  carry  on  the 
work.  He  prepared  them  for  it  by  long  and  sharp 
personal  convictions  of  their  own  lost  estate;  and 
that  they  might  endure  hardness  as  good  soldiers  of 
Jesus  Christ,  by  subjecting  them  to  the  fiery  ordeal 
of  scorn  and  persecution  in  the  university,  and  as 
they  were  almost  hopelessly  feeling  their  way  into 
the  ministry,  after  they  left  it.  It  was  in  Oxford  that 
they  and  the  few  others  who  sympathized  with  them 
were  contemptuously  called  Methodists  by  their  un- 


66  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

godly  fellow-students,  little  thinking  that  they  were 
giving  an  honorable  name  to  one  of  the  largest  de- 
nominations in  England  and  America. 

As  the  university  was  their  Alma  Mater,  so  was 
the  Established  church  of  their  native  land.  They 
were  strongly  attached  to  her  ecclesiastical  polity,  to 
her  liturgy,  to  her  forms  and  ceremonies,  and  had 
not  the  most  distant  thought  of  leaving  her  com- 
munion. They  preached  in  her  churches  till  they 
were  driven  out  into  the  open  fields  as  deluded  schis- 
matics ;  and  they  clung  to  the  Establishment  through 
evil  report  as  long  as  they  could,  the  Wesleys  as 
long  as  they  lived.  They  never  formally  broke  off 
their  connection,  though  they  were  forced  by  persecu- 
tion to  avail  themselves  of  that  liberty  wherewith 
Christ  had  made  them  free,  to  turn  as  many  as  possi- 
ble to  the  Lord,  whether  within  or  without  the  pale 
of  the  Established  church. 

As  the  reformation  advanced,  God  raised  up 
Eletcher  and  Romaine  and  Madan  and  Berridge  and 
Shirley  and  Benson  and  Howel  Harris  and  others, 
to  take  part  with  them  in  their  itinerant  ministry ; 
and  so  rapidly  did  the  work  spread,  that,  ''or  ever 
they  were  aware,"  the  converts  had  so  greatly  multi- 
plied outside  of  the  Establishment  as  to  demand  an 
organization  of  some  sort.  Wesley  could  not  resist 
the  pressure.  The  thousands  were  liable  to  be  scat- 
tered as  sheep  without  a  shepherd.  They  must  be 
taken  care  of,  or  the  roaring  lion  would  come  and 
devour  them ;  and  though  he  would  not,  even  in  that 
extremity,  form  a  new  denomination,  he  organized 
them  under  what  was  called  the  Methodist  Coniiec- 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY— ENGLAND.  57 

tion,  "  so  mightily  did  the  word  of  God  grow  and 
prevail." 

The  history  of  this  remarkable  era  of  revivals 
which  commenced  about  1740,  and  spread  so  widely 
over  England,  Wales,  and  Ireland,  is  so  fully  record- 
ed in  the  lives  and  writings  of  Whitefield,  Wesley, 
Lady  Huntingdon,  and  others,  that  it  is  needless  for 
nie  to  descend  to  particulars. 

That  there  was  intermingled  with  this  work  much 
of  animal  excitement  amojig  the  thousands  upon  thou- 
sands who  hung  upon  the  lips  of  Whitefield  and  the 
Wesleys  in  Moorfields,  on  Kensington  common,  and 
other  out-door  stations,  and  who  sometimes  rent  the 
air  with  their  sobs  and  outcries,  and  that  the  preach- 
ers looked  upon  these  impassioned  demonstrations 
with  too  much  allowance,  there  is  no  room  to  ques- 
tion; nor,  on  the  other  hand,  can  any  but  sceptics 
doubt  that  "  the  power  of  the  Highest ''  was  there,  by 
which  multitudes  were  arrested,  convicted,  and  truly 
converted. 

Mysterious  and  trying  as  was  the  opposition  these 
distinguished  preachers  received  from  the  Established 
church  of  that  day,  I  think  we  can  see  the  wisdom 
and  goodness  of  God  in  permitting  it.  Had  it  come 
entirely  from  without,  the  leaven  could  scarcely  have 
been  infused  into  the  great  lump,  where  it  was  so 
much  needed.  As  the  first  great  revival  preachers 
were  churchmen,  and  labored  within  the  pale  of  the 
church  wherever  they  could  get  an  opportunity,  the 
truth  found  an  entrance  where  the  doors  would  other- 
wise have  remained  closed.  Some  of  the  clergy  were 
raised  from  their  moral  depression,  and  gained  over 


58  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

to  "the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,"  and  be- 
came zealous  preachers  in  their  own  parishes.  The 
evangelical  element  was  thus  infused  into  the  churches 
of  the  Establishment,  or  if  it  were  already  there,  was 
quickened  into  life,  where  it  had  long  been  petrified 
by  formalism.  How  much  the  large  class  of  evan- 
gelical churches  of  the  Establishment  in  the  British 
isles  are  indebted  to  the  blessed  influence  of  that 
"great  awakening,"  it  were  impossible  to  say;  but 
that  there  is  now  much  more  of  the  power  of  godli- 
ness, of  vital,  active  piety  in  the  English  church  than 
there  would  otherwise  have  been,  I  think  all  will 
agree  who  candidly  study  the  religious  history  of 
that  eventful  period,  and  trace  the  growing  evangel- 
ism of  that  church  down  to  the  present  time.  The 
good  seed  which  was  then  sown  has  been  springing 
up  and  bearing  fruit,  more  or  less,  ever  since. 

The  Independents  too,  of  different  sects,  who  did 
not  fall  in  with  the  Methodists,  shared  in  the  bless- 
ing, and  some  of  their  ablest  preachers  were  active 
in  promoting  the  revival.  All  in  all,  it  was  a  glori- 
ous ingathering  of  souls  to  Christ,  though  much  was 
lost  for  want  of  able  stationary  pastors  to  bring  the 
converts  into  regularly  organized  churches,  and  by  a 
pious  watch  and  care  build  them  up  in  the  most  holy 
faith.  This  Whitefield  and  the  other  evan2:elists 
could  not  do,  as  they  went  on  from  place  to  place, 
crying,  like  John  in  the  wilderness,  "Prepare  ye  the 
way  of  the  Lord." 

The  chief  apostles  of  that  reformation  had  differ- 
ent gifts,  and  did  not  harmonize  exactly  in  all  their 
theological  speculations ;  but  the  same  spirit  auimat- 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY— ENGLAND.  59 

ed  them  and  dwelt  in  them.  Their  grand  and  all- 
absorbing  aim  was  to  win  souls  to  Christ.  The  dif- 
ferences between  Whitefield  and  the  Wesleys  at  one 
time  threatened  to  create  a  lasting  alienation ;  but 
mutual  forbearance  and  charity  reconciled  them. 
They  found  they  had  no  time  to  dispute  while  sinners 
whom  they  might  hope  to  save  were  perishing.  They 
labored  and  prayed  together  as  before  ;  their  personal 
friendship  was,  if  possible,  more  closely  cemented,  as 
they  went  on  sowing  the  good  seed  over  the  same 
fields.  Essentially  they  were  of  one  heart  and  one 
mind,  till  death  came  and  took  them  up  to  that  bright- 
er world,  where  it  is  impossible  not  to  see  eye  to  eye, 
or  to  fall  into  any  mistakes.  Whitefield  preached 
the  ofi'ers  of  a  free  salvation  to  all,  without  distinc- 
tion or  exception,  as  earnestly  as  it  was  possible  for 
Wesley  to  do.  So  Wesley,  in  his  prayers,  rejoiced  to 
exalt  God  on  the  throne,  and  magnify  his  grace ;  and 
I  never  heard  a  Methodist  pray  in  a  revival  who  did 
not.  Indeed,  how  can  any  body  pray  that  the  uncon- 
verted may  be  born  again,  without  first  believing  that 
they  are  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins;  and  in  this 
view  of  their  lost  condition,  invoking  the  Holy  Spirit 
to  come  down  in  his  sovereign  and  mighty  power  to 
awaken,  renew,  and  sanctify  them  ? 

So  long  as  the  number  of  converts  was  compara- 
tively small,  and  some  of  the  churches  of  the  Estab- 
lishment yet  opened  their  doors  to  the  revival  preach- 
ers, the  necessity  of  outside  chapels  was  not  very 
urgent,  especially  as  there  was  so  much  field  preach- 
ing to  the  thousands  without,  whom  the  Lord  stirred 
up  to  press  eagerly  around  the  stands,  inquiring  what 


60  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

they  must  do  to  be  saved.  But  as  the  revival  spread 
on  every  hand,  and  great  numbers  of  converts  needed 
to  be  gathered  into  societies  for  regular  instruction 
and  oversight,  the  want  was  severely  felt. 

But  the  mass  of  the  converts  were  poor,  and  how 
were  the  chapels  to  be  built?  Who  would  furnish 
the  means  ?  Anticipating  the  growing  necessity,  the 
great  Head  of  the  church  had  been  raising  up  help  in 
high  quarters,  from  which  the  necessary  aid  could 
hardly  have  been  expected. 

And  just  here  I  have  been  forcibly  struck  with 
the  remarkable  coincidence  between  this  state  of 
things  and  what  we  read  of  the  first  great  revival 
period,  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  God  then  raised 
up  helpers  from  the  higher  classes,  without  whose  aid 
the  thousands  of  converts,  being  mostly  poor  and  sore- 
ly persecuted,  could  scarcely  have  subsisted.  Thus, 
when  Paul  and  Silas  passed  over  from  Troas  into 
Macedonia,  and  came  to  Philippi,  they  found  there  a 
certain  woman  named  Lydia,  a  seller  of  purple  from 
Thyatira,  whose  heart  the  Lord  opened,  that  she 
attended  to  the  things  which  were  spoken  of  Paul, 
and  she  constrained  them  to  come  into  her  house  to 
abide,  which  they  did  as  long  as  their  mission  would 
allow  them  to  stay.  Her  traffic  had  probably  made 
her  rich.  Still  more  striking  is  the  record  in  the 
next  chapter.  When  Paul  and  Silas  went  down  to 
Berea  and  preached  the  gospel  in  that  city,  many  of 
the  Jews  received  the  word  with  all  readiness  of 
mind ;  also  of  "  honorable  women,"  who  were  Greeks, 
and  of  men  not  a  few.  These  women  are  here  called 
honorable,  as  belonging  to  tlie  higher  classes,  who 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY— ENGLAND.  61 

having  both  the  disposition  and  the  means,  encouraged 
and  helped  the  missionaries  to  go  on  with  their  work, 
when  other  resources  must  have  failed. 

So  here,  in  this  great  revival,  God  raised  up  Acm- 
orahle  women  just  when  they  were  most  needed  to  help 
the  preachers,  and  provide  places  of  worship  for  those 
who  were  too  poor  to  do  it  themselves.  Several  of 
their  names  are  mentioned,  as  Anne  and  Frances  Has- 
tings, Lady  Mary  Hamilton,  Lady  Gertrude  Hotham 
and  Countess  Delitz,  sisters  of  Lady  Chesterfield, 
Lady  Chesterfield  herself,  Lady  Fanny  Shirley,  and 
others  of  the  aristocracy,  who  established  the  first 
female  prayer-meeting  that  I  remember  to  have  seen 
noticed  anywhere.  Though  all  connected  with  the 
Established  church,  they  looked  with  great  favor  upon 
the  wonderful  reformation  that  was  going  on  among 
the  hitherto  imcared-for  masses  outside,  and  cheer- 
fully contributed,  more  or  less,  to  help  build  them 
chapels,  in  parts  where  they  were  most  needed. 

Thus  many  daughters  did  virtuously,  but  there 
was  one  that  excelled  them  all.  This  was  that  re- 
markable "  elect  lady,"  the  Countess  of  Huntingdon, 
who  was  remotely  related  to  the  royal  family,  and 
who  moved  in  the  highest  circles.  Amid  all  the 
allurements  and  fascinating  worldly  prospects  of  her 
exalted  rank,  God  arrested  her  by  an  alarming  sick- 
ness, brought  her  to  renounce  all  for  Christ  at  the 
foot  of  his  cross,  and  brought  her  into  fellowship 
with  his  despised  and  persecuted  disciples,  of  whom 
the  world  was  not  worthy.  While  in  her  doctrinal 
belief  she  sympathized  strongly  with  Whitefield  her 
favorite  preacher,  she  welcomed  to  her  house  all  the 


62  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

prominent  preachers  of  the  other  branch  of  the  Con- 
nection of  whom  Wesley  was  the  leader ;  and  deem- 
ed it  an  honor  to  number  Dr.  Watts,  Dr.  Doddridge, 
and  other  dissenting  ministers  of  the  day,  among  the 
warmest  of  her  friends  in  the  household  of  faith. 
Time  would  fail  me  to  reckon  up  her  munificent  char- 
ities for  building  chapels,  and  supporting  the  brother- 
hood in  their  self-denying  labors  to  win  souls  to  Christ ; 
to  speak  of  her  boundless  hospitality  at  home ;  to  fol- 
low her  as  she  "  went  about  doing  good,"  and  in  her 
shining  upward  progress  towards  the  saints'  everlast- 
ing rest.  Considering  her  moderate  income,  her  con- 
tributions, after  the  death  of  her  husband,  for  relig- 
ious and  charitable  purposes,  were  almost  incredible. 
They  were  estimated  to  have  amounted  to  at  least 
$500,000. 

Thus  did  that  illustrious  lady  the  Countess  of 
Huntingdon  go  on  from  strength  to  strength,  serving 
God  and  her  generation  by  the  will  of  God,  till,  ripen- 
ed for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light,  she,  at  the 
advanced  age  of  eighty-four,  rested  from  her  labors, 
and  her  works  followed  her.  For  what  she  was  and 
what  she  did,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  volume 
entitled,  "  Lady  Huntington  and  her  Friends,"  pub- 
lished by  the  American  Tract  Society,  to  Isaac  Tay- 
lor's History  of  Methodism,  and  other  religious  histo- 
ries of  the  times.  She  was  certainly  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  women  of  that  or  any  age.  Her  name 
will  be  had  in  everlasting  remembrance.  We  can 
hardly  see  how  Whitefield  and  Wesley  and  the  other 
prominent  leaders  in  that  religious  movement  would 
have  carried  on  the  work  as  they  did,  without  her 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY— AMERICA.  63 

pecuniary  assistance  and  other  efficient  aid.  Certain 
it  is,  that  in  all  subsequent  ages  her  name  will  be 
associated  with  those  of  the  most  illustrious  reform- 
ers of  that  extraordinary  revival  epoch.  And  who 
can  doubt  that  when  she  died,  she  ascended  to  join 
those  holy  women  of  old,  whose  memorial  stands 
upon  the  sacred  record,  in  their  eternal  services  and 
songs  ? 

THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Leaving  the  fatherland  and  crossing  the  ocean,  we 
proceed  to  inquire  what  was  the  state  of  religion  in 
the  American  churches  previous  to  the  "  Great 
Awakening,"  at  which  we  have  just  glanced  in  the 
mother  country.  Certainly,  when  that  remarkable 
revival  commenced,  the  churches  had  not  sunk  so  low 
here  as  there.  From  the  beginning  of  the  century, 
we  find  there  had  been  isolated  revivals  here  and 
there.  There  were  verdant  inclosures  in  the  vine- 
yard, while  also  the  drought  was  wide  and  sore. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Danforth  of  Taunton,  Massachusetts, 
wrote,  in  1704—5,  "  We  are  much  encouraged  by  a  uni- 
versal and  amazing  impression  made  by  the  Spirit  of 
God  on  all  sorts  among  us,  especially  on  the  young 
men  and  women.  It  is  almost  incredible  how  many 
visit  me  with  discoveries  of  extreme  distress  of  mind 
they  are  in  about  their  spiritual  condition.  The 
young  men,  instead  of  their  merry  meetings,  are  now 
forming  themselves  into  regular  meetings  for  prayer, 
repetition  of  sermons,  and  singing.  The  profanest 
among  us  seem  startled  at  the  sudden  change  upon 
the  rising  generation.     We  need  much  prayer  that 


64  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

these  strivings  of  the  Spirit  may  have  a  saving  issue 
and  effect." 

Again  he  writes,  "  My  time  is  spent  in  daily  dis- 
course with  the  young  people  visiting  me  with  their 
doubts,  fears,  and  agonies.  Religion  flourishes  to 
amazement  and  admiration,  that  so  we  should  be  at 
once  touched  with  soul  affliction,  and  this  in  all  cor- 
ners of  the  place.  But  I  hope  that  the  deeper  the 
wound,  the  more  sound  may  be  the  cure.  I  have 
little  time  to  think  of  worldly  matters,  scarce  time  to 
study  sermons  as  I  used  to  do  ;  but  find  God  can  bless 
mean  preparations  whenever  he  pleases  that  such  shall 
be  most  cried  up  and  commended  which  I  have  had 
scarce  time  to  methodize.  I  sometimes  think  that  the 
time  of  the  pouring  out  of  the  Spirit  upon  all  flesh  may 
be  at  the  door.^' 

President  Edwards  mentions  revivals  in  North- 
ampton in  1712  and  1718,  under  the  ministry  of  his 
predecessor  Rev.  Mr.  Stoddard.  In  the  year  1721, 
there  was  a  remarkable  revival  in  Windham,  Con- 
^necticut.  In  1730  and  the  three  following  years, 
there  was  a  considerable  revival  in  Freehold,  New 
Jersey,  under  the  ministry  of  the  two  Tennents,  John 
and  William ;  and  other  places  might  be  mentioned. 

Nevertheless  there  had  been,  in  the  early  part  of 
the  century,  a  great  falling  away,  which  we  find  griev- 
ously lamented  by  pious  ministers,  who  remembered 
those  better  days  when  the  candle  of  the  Lord  shone 
upon  the  churches  planted  by  the  Puritan  fathers^ 

Dr.  Increase  Mather,  in  a  book  entitled,  "The 
Glory  departing  from  New  England,"  printed  in 
1702,  says,  "  We  are  the  posterity  of  the  good  old 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY— AMERICA.  65 

Puritan  Non-conformists  in  England,  who  were  a  strict 
and  holy  people.  Such  were  our  fathers  who  followed 
the  Lord  into  this  wilderness.  0  New  England,  New 
England,  look  to  it  that  the  glory  be  not  removed 
from  thee,  for  it  begins  to  go.  0  tremble,  for  it  is 
going ;  it  is  gradually  departing.  You  that  are  aged 
persons,  that  can  remember  what  New  England  was 
fifty  years  ago,  that  saw  the  churches  in  their  first 
glory,  is  there  not  a  sad  decay  and  diminution  of  that 
glory?  Time  was  when  these  churches  were 'beau- 
tiful as  Tirzah,  comely  as  Jerusalem,  terrible  as  an 
army  with  banners.'  What  a  glorious  presence  of 
Christ  was  there  in  all  his  ordinances.  Many  were 
converted,  and  there  were  added  to  the  churches  daily 
such  as  should  be  saved.  But  are  not  sound  conver- 
sions become  rare  in  this  day,  and  in  many  congrega- 
tions? Look  into  the  pulpits,  and  see  if  there  is  such 
a  glory  there  as  once  there  was.  When  will  Boston 
see  a  Cotton  and  a  Norton  again  ?  When  will  New 
England  see  a  Hooker,  a  Shepard,  a  -Mitchell,  not  to 
mention  others  ? 

"Look  into  our  civil  state;  does  Christ  reign 
there  as  once  he  did  ?  How  many  churches,  how  many 
towns  are  there  in  New  England  that  we  may  sigh 
over  them  and  say,  the  glory  is  gone !  And  there  is 
sad  cause  to  fear  that  greater  departures  of  the  glory 
are  hastening  upon  us ;  our  iniquities  testify  against 
us,  and  our  backslidings  are  many.  That  there  is  a 
general  defection  from  primitive  purity  and  piety  in 
many  respects,  cannot  be  denied.  The  providence  of 
God  is  threatening  to  pull  down  the  wall  which  was 
a  defence  to  these  churches." 


66  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

Again  he  writes  in  1721,  "  I  am  now  in  the  eighty- 
third  year  of  my  age,  and  having  had  an  opportunity 
to  converse  with  the  first  planters  of  this  country, 
and  having  been  for  sixty-five  years  a  preacher  of  the 
gospel,  I  cannot  but  be  in  the  disposition  of  those 
ancient  men  who  had  seen  the  foundation  of  the  first 
house,  and  wept  with  a  loud  voice  to  see  what  a 
change  the  work  of  the  temple  had  upon  it.  The 
children  of  New  England  are,  or  once  were,  for  the 
most  part,  the  children  of  godly  men.  What  did  our 
fathers  come  into  this  wilderness  for?  Not  to  gain 
estates  as  men  do  now,  but  for  religion,  and  that  they 
might  leave  their  children  in  a  hopeful  way  of  being 
truly  religious.  There  was  a  famous  man  that  preached 
before  one  of  the  greatest  assemblies  that  ever  was 
preached  unto  seventy  years  ago,  and  he  told  them,  '  I 
have  lived  in  a  country  seven  years,  and  all  that  time 
I  never  heard  one  profane  oath,  and  all  that  time  I 
never  did  see  a  man  drunk  in  that  land.^  Where  was 
that  country  ?  It  was  New  England ;  but  Oh,  degen- 
erate New  England,  what  art  thou  come  to  at  this 
day!  How  are  those  sins  become  common  in  thee 
thatjDnce  were  not  so  much  as  heard  of  in  this  landlf 

In  a  public  lecture  printed  in  1706,  Dr.  Cotton 
Mather  says,  ''It  is  confessed  by  all  who  know  any 
thing  of  the  matter — and  Oh,  why  not  with  rivers  of 
tears  bewailed  ? — that  there  is  a  general  and  a  horrible 
decay  of  Christianity  among  the  professors  of  it.  The 
glorious  and  precious  religion  of  our  heavenly  Christ 
generally  appears  with  quite  another  face  in  the  lives 
of  Christians  of  this  day,  than  what  it  had  in  the 
lives  of  the  saints  into  whose  hands  it  was  first  of  all 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY— AMERICA.  6T 

delivered.  The  modern  Christianity  is  but  too  gen- 
erally but  a  very  shadow  of  the  ancient." 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Prince  of  Boston,  in  a  sermon 
delivered  before  the  General  Assembly  of  the  prov- 
ince of  Massachusetts,  May  27,  1730,  states  as  his  de- 
sign to  "commemorate  the  righteous  and  wonderful 
works  of  God  towards  us,  both  in  our  own  days  and 
in  the  days  of  our  fathers,'^  and  thus  proceeds :  "  Who 
were  our  fathers,  and  what  were  their  distinguishing 
characters  ?  The  generality  of  them  were  the  near 
descendants  of  the  first  reformers  in  England.  They 
were  born  of  pious  parents,  who  brought  them  up  in 
a  course  of  strict  religion  under  the  most  awakening 
preachers  of  those  days.  Under  such  means  they 
became  inspired  with  a  spirit  of  piety,  and  with  a 
growing  zeal  to  reform  the  worship  of  God  to  the 
most  beautiful  and  perfect  model  of  his  own  insti- 
tutions. 

"And  to  the  great  glory  of  God  be  it  spoken, 
there  never  was  perhaps  before  seen  such  a  body  of 
pious  people  together  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  Their 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  leaders  were  exemplary  pat- 
terns of  piety.  They  encouraged  only  the  virtuous 
to  come  with  and  follow  them.  They  were  so  strict, 
both  in  the  church  and  the  state,  that  the  incorrigible 
could  not  endure  to  live  in  the  country,  and  went 
back  again.  Profane  swearers  and  drunkards  were 
not  known  in  the  land.  And  it  quickly  grew  so 
famous  for  religion  abroad,  that  scarce  any  other  but 
those  who  liked  it  came  over  for  many  years  after." 

The  Rev.  Samuel  Blair,  speaking  of  the  state  of 
religion  in  Pennsylvania,  says,  "  True  religion  lay  as 


68  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

it  were  adying  and  ready  to  expire  its  last  breath  of 
life,  in  this  part  of  the  visible  church,  in  the  spring  of 
1740,  when  the  God  of  salvation  was  pleased  to  visit 
ns  with  the  blessed  effusions  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  I 
doubt  not  that  then  there  were  some  sincerely  relig- 
ious people  up  and  down.  But  a  very  lamentable 
ignorance  of  the  essentials  of  true  practical  religion, 
and  of  the  doctrines  relating  thereto,  very  generally 
prevailed.  The  nature  and  necessity  of  the  new  birth 
were  little  known,  or  of  the  Holy  Spirit  opening  and 
applying  the  law  to  the  conscience,  in  order  to  sav- 
ing closure  with  Christ.  The  common  notion  seemed 
to  be,  that  if  people  were  aiming  to  be  in  the  way  of 
duty  as  well  as  they  could,  they  imagined  there  was 
no  reason  to  be  much  afraid." 

These  lamentations  over  the  degeneracy  of  the 
times  must  certainly  be  taken  with  some  abatements 
from  what  a  comparison  between  other  periods  in  the 
history  of  the  American  churches  would  require. 
The  primitive  standard  of  morals  and  piety  in  the 
first  and  second  generations  starting  from  Plymouth 
rock  was  so  high,  that  the  declension  over  which 
the  fathers  mourned  seemed  to  them  to  have  brought 
religion  to  a  lower  ebb  than  it  would  have  otherwise 
appeared.  No  wonder  they  were  alarmed.  No  won- 
der they  lifted  up  their  voices  like  a  trumpet.  There 
was  "a  cause"  before  their  eyes.  They  had  seen 
those  better  days,  and  felt  that  if  God  did  not  soon 
appear  and  revive  his  work,  all  would  be  lost. 

Among  the  causes  which  led  to  this  lax  and  down- 
ward tendency  of  the  churches,  was  the  introduction 
of  the  so-called  "  Half-way   Covenant."     It  crept  in 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY— AMERICA.  69 

gradually  at  first,  but  erelong  spread  widely  over 
New  England.  It  was  intended  to  open  tlie  door  for 
parents  who  were  not  members  of  the  churches,  and 
who  made  no  pretensions  to  personal  piety,  to  bring 
their  children  for  baptism.  The  substance  of  it  was, 
a  general  confession  of  faith  in  the  truth  and  inspira- 
tion of  the  Scriptures,  and  a  promise  to  ^^come  up  to 
the  Lord's  supper  as  soon  as  they  should  see  their  way 
clear,''  which  most  of  them  never  did.  Hence  the 
name,  "  Half-way  Covenant."  This  system  was  intro- 
duced as  early  as  1662.  The  consequence  was,  that 
the  membership  of  the  churches  in  full  communion 
rapidly  decreased.  Having  got  their  children  bap- 
tized, few  of  the  parents  came  into  full  communion, 
and  hardly  any  of  the  unmarried  were  found  at  the 
Lord's  table. 

To  keep  the  churches  full,  the  next  departure  from 
the  Puritan  organization  was  to  hold  up  the  Lord's 
supper  as  a  converting  ordinance,  and  thus  to  throw  the 
door  wide  open  for  the  entrance  of  the  unconverted. 
The  Rev.  Solomon  Stoddard  of  Northampton,  with  the 
best  intentions  no  doubt,  in  a  sermon  published  in 
1707,  maintained  that  '' sanctification  is  not  a  neces- 
sary qualification  for  partaking  of  the  Lord's  supper, 
and  that  it  is  a  converting  ordinance."  Dr.  Increase 
Mather  published  an  able  reply  to  this  sermon ;  but 
the  principles  of  Mr.  Stoddard  were  adopted  by  the 
church  in  Northampton,  and  soon  in  other  parts  of 
New  England... 

I  have  dwelt  the  longer  on  the  period  preceding 
the  Great  Awakening  to  show  what  formidable  ob- 
stacles  had   accumulated   in  the  wav  of  a  revival. 


TO  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

Nothing  strange  was  the  opposition  which  it  had  to 
encounter  from  the  pulpit  and  the  press ;  but  strange 
indeed  it  would  have  been,  if,  in  the  progress  of  that 
remarkable  revival,  with  such  hostile  antecedents, 
there  had  been  nothing  mixed  with  it  to  be  regretted 
by  its  warmest  friends  and  advocates. 

It  would  be  easy  to  fill  more  than  one  large  vol- 
ume with  the  narratives  and  records  in  various  forms 
of  that  ever  memorable  revival  in  the  American 
churches.  It  was  almost  as  life  from  the  dead,  so 
deep  was  the  spiritual  apathy  in  which  it  found  them. 
But  my  notice  must  be  extremely  brief,  and  indeed 
that  is  all  which  seems  to  be  called  for,  since  the  prog- 
gress  of  the  work  was  so  largely  and  faithfully  chron- 
icled at  the  time  in  Prince's  History,  Gillies'  Histor- 
ical Collections,  Edwards'  Thoughts  on  the  Revival 
of  Religion  in  New  England,  published  by  the  Amer- 
ican Tract  Society,  and  "  The  Great  Awakening,"  an 
octavo  volume  by  the  Rev.  Joseph  Tracy,  of  which  a 
new  edition  has  just  been  issued. 

The  more  prominent  agents  whom  the  great  Head 
of  the  church  employed  in  carrying  on  that  glorious 
work  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  were  Mr.  Edwards, 
Mr.  Whitefield,  Dr.  Bellamy,  the  two  Tennents,  Will- 
iam and  Gilbert,  President  Davies,  Mr.  Blair,  and 
Mr.  Parsons.  Scores  of  other  good  ministers  cooper- 
ated with  them  or  labored  successfully  without  them 
in  their  respective  parishes,  though  some  of  the  pas- 
tors doubted  whereunto  it  would  grow,  and  stood 
aloof. 

Small  space  as  I  can  spare  for  this  revival,  which 
arrested  the  deplorable  backslidings  of  the  churches, 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY— AMERICA.  71 

I  feel  bound  to  magnify  the  grace  of  God  by  borrow- 
ing some  brief  extracts  from  the  copious  narratives 
to  which  I  have  just  alluded. 

As  the  first  revival  took  place  under  the  preach- 
ing of  Mr.  Edwards,  and  as  he  stood  at  the  head  of 
the  most  able  defenders  of  that  mighty  work  of  the 
Spirit,  and  was  one  of  the  most  judicious  and  success- 
ful laborers  both  at  home  and  abroad,  I  shall  first 
make  condensed  extracts  from  his  "Narrative  of  the 
Revival  in  Northampton,  in  1734,"  as  a  fair  exam- 
ple of  the  character  of  the  remarkable  series  which 
followed  and  spread  so  widely  over  the  land. 

"  Just  after  my  grandfather's  death,  it  was  a  time 
of  remarkable  dulness  in  religion.  Many  of  the  youth 
were  mucli  addicted  to  night-walking,  frequenting  the 
tavern,  and  lewd  practices.  They  would  often  spend 
the  greater  part  of  the  night  in  frolics,  without  regard 
to  any  order  in  the  families  they  belonged  to ;  and 
indeed  family  government  did  too  much  fail  in  the 
town. 

"But  in  two  or  three  years  after  Mr.  Stoddard's 
death,  there  began  to  be  a  sensible  amendment.  The 
young  people  by  degrees  left  off  their  frolicking,  and 
thenceforward  there  was  a  remarkable  reformation 
among  them.  In  the  month  of  April,  1734,  there 
happened  a  very  sudden  and  awful  death  of  a  young 
man  in  the  bloom  of  youth,  and  the  sermon  which  was 
preached  on  that  occasion  very  much  affected  many 
of  the  young.  This  was  followed  by  the  death  of  a 
young  married  woman.  In  the  beginning  of  her  ill- 
ness she  was  greatly  distressed  about  the  salvation  of 
her  soul,  but  seemed  to  obtain  satisfactory  evidence 


T2  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

of  God's  saving  mercy  before  she  died,  and  in  a  most 
earnest  and  moving  manner  counselled  and  warned 
others.  This  seemed  much  to  affect  many  young  per- 
sons, and  increased  the  religious  concern  on  people's 
minds. 

"It  was  in  the  latter  part  of  December  that  the 
Spirit  of  God  began  extraordinarily  to  act  in  and 
wonderfully  to  work  among  us.  Very  suddenly  five 
or  six  persons,  one  after  another,  were  to  all  appear- 
ance savingly  converted,  some  of  them  in  a  very  re- 
markable manner.  Presently  a  great  and  earnest  con- 
cern became  universal  in  all  parts  of  the  town  among 
persons  of  all  ages.  The  noise  among  the  dry  bones 
waxed  louder  and  louder.  All  the  conversation  in 
all  companies  was  upon  spiritual  things,  except  so 
much  as  was  necessary  for  ordinary  secular  business. 
Men  seemed  to  follow  their  business  more  as  a  part 
of  their  duty  than  from  any  disposition  to  it.  Relig- 
ion was  with  all  sorts  the  great  concern.  It  was  then 
a  dreadful  thing  among  us  to  lie  out  of  Christ,  in 
danger  every  day  of  dropping  into  hell.  All  would 
eagerly  lay  hold  of  opportunities  for  their  souls,  and 
very  often  met  together  in  private  houses  for  relig- 
ious purposes.  There  was  scarcely  a  person  in  town, 
young  or  old,  that  was  left  unconcerned  about  the 
great  things  of  the  eternal  world. 

"  Those  that  had  been  disposed  to  think  and  speak 
lightly  of  religion,  were  now  generally  subject  to 
great  awakenings.  The  work  of  conversion  was  car- 
ried on  in  the  most  astonishing  manner.  Souls  did, 
as  it  were,  come  by  flocks  to  Jesus  Christ. 

"  From  day  to  day  for  many  months  might  be  seen 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY— AMERICA.  13 

evident  instances  of  sinners  being  brought  out  of 
darkness  into  marvellous  light.  ;  It  made  such  a  glo- 
rious alteration  in  the  town,  that  m  the  following 
spring  and  summer,  1735,  the  town  seemed  to  be  full 
of  the  presence  of  God.  It  was  so  in  almost  every 
house.  Our  public  assemblies  were  then  beautiful. 
The  congregation  was  alive  in  God's  service,  and 
every  hearer  eager  to  drink  in  the  words  of  the  min- 
ister. The  assembly  were  in  general  from  time  to 
time  in  tears,  some  weeping  with  sorrow  and  distress, 
others  with  joy  and  love ;  others  with  pity  and  con- 
cern for  the  souls  of  their  neighbors.  Our  young  peo- 
ple, when  they  met,  were  wont  to  talk  of  the  dying 
love  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  glorious  way  of  salva- 
tion, the  wonderful  free  and  sovereign  grace  of  God, 
and  his  glorious  work  in  the  conversion  of  souls. 
Those  among  us  who  had  been  formerly  converted, 
were  greatly  enlivened  with  fresh  and  extraordinary 
incomes  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 

"  This  dispensation  has  also  appeared  very  extra- 
ordinary in  the  numbers  of  those  on  whom  we  have 
reason  to  hope  it  has  had  a  saving  effect.  "We  have 
about  six  hundred  and  twenty  communicants,  which 
include  almost  all  our  adult  persons.  I  am  far  from 
pretending  to  determine  how  many  have  been  the  sub- 
jects of  such  mercy,  but  I  hope  that  more  than  three 
hundred  were  brought  home  to  Christ  in  this  town  in 
the  space  of  half  a  year,  and  about  the  same  number 
of  males  as  females.*  I  hope  that  by  far  the  greater 
part  of  persons  in  this  town  over  sixteen  years  of  age 

*  The  population  of  the  town  was  then  about  eleven  hun- 
dred. 

Rev.  Sketches.  4 


T4  REVIYAL  SKETCHES. 

are  such  as  have  a  saving  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ ; 
and  so,  by  what  I  have  heard,  I  suppose  it  is  in  some 
other  places,  particularl}^  at  Sunderland  and  South 
Hadley. 

"This  has  also  appeared  a  very  extraordinary  dis- 
pensation, in  that  the  Spirit  of  God  has  so  much  ex- 
tended not  only  his  awakening  but  his  regenerating 
influences,  both  to  elderly  persons  and  also  to  those 
that  are  very  young.  It  has  been  a  thing  heretofore 
scarcely  to  be  heard  of,  that  any  were  converted  past 
middle  age.  But  now  we  have  as  much  reason  to 
think  that  many  such  have  been  changed,  as  that 
others  have  been  in  more  early  years. 

'•It  has  heretofore  been  looked  upon  as  a 
strange  thing,  when  any  have  seemed  to  be  savingly 
wrought  upon  and  remarkably  changed  in  their 
childhood ;  but  now  I  suppose  that  near  thirty  were, 
to  appearance,  between  ten  and  fourteen  years  of 
age,  two  between  nine  and  ten,  and  one  of  about  four 
years. 

"  God  has  also  seemed  to  have  gone  out  of  his 
usual  way  in  the  quickness  of  his  work,  and  the  swift 
progress  his  Spirit  has  made  in  his  operations  on  the 
hearts  of  many.  Many  have  been  taken  from  a  loose 
and  careless  way  of  living,  and  seized  with  strong 
convictions  of  their  guilt  and  misery,  and  in  a  very 
little  time  '  all  things  have  become  new '  with  them. 
God's  work  has  also  appeared  very  extraordinary, 
in  the  degree  of  saving  light  and  love  and  joy  that 
many  have  experienced,  and  in  the  extent  of  it,  being 
so  swiftly  propagated  from  town  to  town.  In  former 
times  of  the  pouring  out  of  tlie  Spirit  of  God  upon 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY— AMERICA.  75 

this  town,  though  in  some  of  them  it  was  very  remark- 
able, it  reached  no  further. 

"  The  work  of  God  seemed  to  be  at  its  greatest 
height  here  in  March  and  April,  at  which  time  God's 
work  in  the  conversion  of  souls  was  carried  on  in  so 
wonderful  a  manner,  that  so  far  as  I  can  judge,  from 
what  I  have  witnessed  in  the  progress  of  this  work, 
conversions  have  been  at  the  rate  at  least  of  four  per- 
sons in  a  day,  or  near  thirty  in  a  week,  take  one  week 
with  another,  for  five  or  six  weeks  together.  When 
God  so  remarkably  took  the  work  into  his  own  hands, 
there  was  as  much  done  in  a  day  or  two  as,  in  ordi- 
nary times,  with  all  endeavors  that  men  can  use,  and 
with  such  a  blessing  as  men  commonly  have,  in  a 
year." 

Then  follow  brief  notices  of  the  work  in  many 
other  towns,  as  South  Hadley,  Sunderland,  Deerfield, 
Hatfield,  West  Springfield,  Westfield,  Hadley,  North- 
field,  and  other  places,  marked  by  the  same  unmis- 
takable evidences  of  the  Divine  presence,  though  with 
"  diversities  of  operations,  according  to  His  pleasure 
who  worketh  all  things  according  to  the  counsel  of 
his  own  will.'^  Among  the  places  specially  visited  in 
Connecticut,  were  East  Windsor,  Coventry,  Lebanon, 
Stratford,  Durham,  New  Haven,  Guilford,  Mansfield, 
Tolland,  Hebron,  Bolton,  Preston,  and  Woodbury. 

And  so  far  was  that  glorious  work,  which  lasted 
several  years,  and  was  at  its  height  about  1740,  from 
being  confined  to  New  England,  that  it  was  equally 
powerful  in  many  parts  of  New  Jersey  and  Pennsyl- 
vania. New  York  too  shared  in  the  blessing,  beyond 
which  there  was  no  West  then,  and  the  same  Spirit 


T6  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

wrought  powerfully  in  some  parts  of  the  southern 
states,  particularly  in  Delaware,  Virginia,  and  South 
Carolina.  To  all  human  appearance,  it  was  the  salva- 
tion of  the  church  from  an  irrecoverable  departure 
from  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints.  It  was  as 
if  the  Saviour  had  said  to  his  desponding  disciples, 
"Be  not  faithless,  but  believing,  and  ye  shall  see 
greater  things  than  these." 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  Rev.  George 
Whitefield  was  one  of  the  most  zealous  and  success- 
ful preachers  of  that  day.  I  cannot  follow  him 
through  his  marvellous  mission,  having  the  everlast- 
ing gospel  to  preach  wherever  he  went.  It  would 
require  a  volume.  I  am  happy  that  the  American 
Tract  Society  have  published  his  life,  in  a  volume  of 
five  hundred  pages.  But  it  has  seemed  to  me  I  could 
not  do  less,  in  justice  to  him  and  to  "  the  grace  of  God 
which  was  in  him,''  than  to  glance  for  a  moment  at 
what  he  was  and  what  he  did. 

It  is  questionable  whether  any  preacher  since  the 
days  of  the  apostles  has  done  so  much,  in  a  degener- 
ate age,  to  rouse  the  churches,  and  "  turn  back  their 
captivity"  from  dead  formalism,  latitudinarian  indif- 
ference, and  erroneous  proclivities,  and  to  bring  them 
into  the  old  paths  in  which  their  Puritan  fathers 
walked,  both  on  this  side  and  beyond  the  sea.  From 
the  commencement  of  his  extraordinary  career,  like 
a  flaming  seraph  as  it  were,  he  passed  from  city  to 
city,  and  from  land  to  land,  having  the  everlasting 
gospel  to  preach ;  attracting  the  gaze  of  thousands 
wherever  he  went,  swaying  uncounted  multitudes  by 
his  fervid  and  matchless  eloquence,  and  beyond  all 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY— AMERICA,  77 

peradventure,  bringing  great  numbers,  on  both  sides 
of  the  ocean,  to  the  foot  of  the  cross. 

Of  Jonathan  Edwards,  his  compeer,  and  much 
more  in  the  depths  of  theological  science,  it  may  be 
said  that,  in  his  great  sermon  on  Justification  by  Faith 
alone,  he  struck  the  key-note  of  the  songs  of  new-born 
souls  in  that  revival . 

Restricted  as  my  limits  are,  I  must  not  omit  to 
add  a  paragraph  or  two,  from  a  letter  of  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Prince,  Jr.,  touching  that  great  awakening 
in  Boston. 

"  Great  numbers  in  this  town  were  so  happily  con- 
cerned about  their  souls,  as  we  had  never  seen  any 
thing  like  it  before.  Our  assemblies,  both  on  lectures 
and  Sabbaths,  were  surprisingly  increased. 

"  After  Mr.  Whitefield  left,  the  Rev.  Gilbert  Ten- 
nent  came,  and  he  seemed  to  have  as  deep  an  ac- 
quaintance with  the  experimental  part  of  religion,  as 
any  I  ever  conversed  with,  and  his  preaching  was  as 
rousing  and  searching  as  I  ever  heard.  He  aimed 
directly  at  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  his  hearers. 
His  aim  was  to  lay  open  the  delusions  of  sinners,  and 
show  them  their  numerous  hypocritical  shifts,  and 
drive  them  out  of  every  deceitful  refuge.  From  the 
terrible  convictions  he  had  passed  through  in  his  own 
soul,  he  had  such  a  lively  view  of  the  divine  Majesty, 
and  of  the  strictness,  spirituality,  extent,  and  justice 
of  his  law,  that  the  terrors  of  God  seemed  to  rise 
fresh  in  his  mind,  when  he  displayed  and  brandished 
them  in  the  eyes  of  unreconciled  sinners. 

"I  do  not  recollect  any  crying  out,  or  falling 
down,  or  fainting,  either  under  Mr.  Whitefield's  or 


78  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

Mr.  Tennent's  preacliing  j  and  though  terrible  preach- 
ing may  strongly  work  on  the  animal  passions,  and 
frighten  the  hearers,  rouse  the  soul,  and  prepare  the 
way  for  terrible  convictions,  yet  those  mere  animal 
terrors  are  quite  different  things  from  such  convic- 
tions as  were  wrought  in  many  hundreds  by  Mr.  Ten- 
nent's  searching  ministry;  and  such  was  the  case  of 
those  many  scores,  in  several  of  the  congregations 
as  well  as  mine,  who  came  to  me  and  others  for  direc- 
tion under  them.  It  was  such  a  time  as  we  never 
knew.  Mr.  Cooper  was  wont  to  say,  that  more  came 
to  him  in  one  week,  in  deep  concern  about  their  souls, 
than  in  the  whole  twenty-four  years  of  his  preceding 
ministry.  He  had  about  six  hundred  different  persons 
visit  him  in  three  months'  time ;  and  Mr.  Webb  in- 
forms me  he  has  had,  in  the  same  space,  above  a  thou- 
sand. Sometimes  rising  of  sixty  bills  were  put  up  at 
once,  in  public,  by  the  awakened ;  and  their  cases  rep- 
resented were,  a  blind  mind,  a  vile  and  hard  heart; 
some  under  great  temptations,  some  in  concern  for 
their  souls ;  some  in  great  distress  of  mind  for  fear 
of  being  unconverted,  others  for  fear  they  had  been 
all  along  building  on  a  righteousness  of  their  own ; 
some  for  a  long  time,  even  for  several  months,  under 
these  convictions;  some  fearing  lest  the  Holy  Spirit 
should  withdraw;  others  having  quenched  his  opera- 
tions, were  in  great  distress  lest  he  should  leave 
them  for  ever. 

"Within  six  months,  to  the  end  of  January,  1741, 
there  were  scores  joined  to  our  communicants,  the 
greater  part  of  whom  gave  a  particular  account  of 
the  work  of  the  Spirit  of  God  on  their  souls  and 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY— AMERICA.  79 

ejQfectual  calling,  as  is  described  in  the  Westminster 
Assembly's  Shorter  Catechism.  Mr.  Webb,  senior 
pastor  of  the  New  North,  informs  me  that  of  admissions 
to  full  communion  of  those  hopefully  wrought  upon  in 
this  day  of  grace,  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  joined 
his  church,  of  which  one  hundred  and  two  joined  from 
January,  1741,  to  1742,  and  many  more  give  good 
evidence  of  grace.  In  this  year,  1741,  the  very  face 
of  the  town  seemed  to  be  strangely  altered.  Some 
who  had  not  been  here  since  the  fall  before,  have  told  . 
me  of  their  great  surprise  at  the  change  in  the  gen- 
eral look  and  carriage  of  the  people,  as  soon  as  they 
landed.  One  of  our  worthy  gentlemen  informed  me 
that  whereas,  when  he  used  with  others  on  Saturday 
evening  to  visit  the  taverns  in  order  to  clear  them  of 
their  town  inhabitants,  they  were  wont  to  find  many 
there,  and  meet  with  much  trouble  to  get  them  away, 
he  now  found  them  empty  of  all  but  lodgers.  Thus 
successfully  did  the  divine  work  go  on  in  town,  with- 
out any  lisp,  as  I  remember,  of  a  separation,  either  in 
this  town  or  province,  for  about  a  year  and  a  half 
after  Mr.  Whitefield  left  us." 

I  have  exceedingly  interesting  accounts  before  me 
of  nearly  simultaneous  revivals  in  Natick,  Wrentham, 
Bridgewater,  Plymouth,  Sutton,  Taunton,  Middlebo- 
rough,  Halifax,  Reading,  Gloucester,  Northampton  in 
1740,  Raynham,  Rochester,  Cambridge,  Plympton, 
and  other  places  in  Massachusetts ;  Wester  ley  and 
Charlestown,  in  Rhode  Island ;  Portsmouth  and  New 
Castle,  in  New  Hampshire ;  Enfield,  and  other  towns 
already  mentioned  by  Mr.  Edwards,  in  Connecticut  ; 
Newark,  Elizabethtown,  and  several  other  places  in 


80  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

New  Jersey  ;  Philadelphia,  New  Providence,  Notting- 
ham, White  Clay  Creek,  and  Neshaminy,  in  Penn- 
sylvania. The  revival  also  extended  to  Yirginia,  and 
was  quite  powerful  in  some  of  the  counties  of  that 
ancient  commonwealth. 

The  labors  of  Rev.  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  who  came 
over  from  Holland  in  1720,  were  greatly  blessed  in 
New  Jersey,  especially  among  the  Reformed  Dutch 
churches. 

The  Rev.  Jonathan  Dickinson  of  Elizabethtown, 
New  Jersey,  speaking  of  Elizabethtown  and  Newark, 
says,  August  23,  1743,  "  In  these  towns  religion  was 
in  a  low  state,  and  there  was  but  little  of  the  power 
of  godliness  among  us  till  some  time  in  August,  1739, 
when  there  was  a  remarkable  revival  in  Newark.  It 
was  chiefly  among  the  young  people  till  the  following 
March,  when  the  whole  town  was  brought  under  a 
common  concern  about  their  eternal  interests;  and 
there  is  good  reason  to  conclude  that  a  considerable 
number  experienced  a  saving  change.  The  summer 
following  this  awakening  was  sensibly  abated,  till  in 
February,  1741,  they  were  again  visited  by  the  special 
eJGfusions  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  when  a  plain  familiar  ser- 
mon was  set  home  with  power.  Many  were  brought 
to  see  and  feel  that  till  then  they  had  no  more  than  a 
name  to  live,  and  there  seemed  to  be  but  very  few  in 
the  whole  congregation  who  were  not  moved  more 
or  less,  though  mostly  among  the  rising  generation. 
There  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  there  were  now 
a  greater  number  brought  to  Christ  than  in  the  former 
gracious  visitation." 

Mr.  Dickinson  goes  on  to  say  that  about  the  same 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY— AMERICA.  81 

time  there  was  a  powerful  revival  in  Elizabethtowu. 
"  Under  the  preaching  of  the  word,  there  was  a  sud- 
den and  deep  impression  on  the  congregation.  There 
was  no  crying  out  or  falling  down,  as  elsewhere  hap- 
pened, but  tears  and  sobbing  in  almost  all  parts  of  the 
assembly.  There  appeared  such  tokens  of  a  solemn 
and  deep  concern  as  I  never  saw  before  in  any  con- 
gregation. All  our  opportunities  for  public  worship 
were  carefully  attended.  Numbers  were  almost  daily 
repairing  to  me  for  direction  and  assistance  in  their 
eternal  concerns." 

In  another  letter  written  by  Mr.  Dickinson  about 
that  time,  he  says,  "  I  have  still  the  comfortable  news 
to  inform  you  of,  that  there  is  yet  a  great  revival  of 
religion  in  these  parts.  I  have  had  more  young  peo- 
ple address  me  for  direction  in  their  spiritual  con- 
cerns in  three  months,  than  in  thirty  years  before. 

"  Though  so  many  were  brought  under  conviction  at 
once,  we  had  very  little  appearance  among  us  of  those 
irregular  heats  which  are  so  loudly  complained  of  in 
other  parts  of  the  land.  This  work  was  substantially 
the  same  in  all  the  subjects  of  it.  Though  some  were 
more  distressed,  and  for  a  longer  time  than  others, 
none  obtained  satisfying  discoveries  of  safety  in  Christ 
till  they  were  first  brought  to  despair  of  help  from 
themselves  or  any  of  their  own  refuges. 

"  It  is  remarkable,  that  as  this  work  began  among 
us  in  a  time  of  the  greatest  health  and  prosperity,  so 
it  began  sensibly  to  wear  off  in  a  time  of  the  greatest 
mortality  that  had  ever  been  known  in  the  town, 
which  makes  it  appear  more  evidently  to  be  the  work 
of  God  himself.     If  we  may  judge  the  tree  by  the 

4^ 


82  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

fruits  which  we  have  now  had  so  long  a  time  to  ob- 
serve— three  years  or  more — we  have  reason  to  sup- 
pose that  about  sixty  have  received  a  saving  change 
in  this  congregation." 

It  was  estimated  that,  at  that  time,  the  population 
of  all  the  colonies  was  about  2,000,000 ;  and  it  was 
believed  that  the  number  of  converts  amounted  to 
not  less  Wiojiffty  thousand.  If  so,  they  bore  as  great 
a  proportion  to  the  whole  number  of  inhabitants,  and 
would  as  much  change  the  relative  proportion  of  the 
religious  and  irreligious,  as  the  conversion  of  six  hun- 
dred thousand  would  now.  How  many  were  hopefully 
born  again,  during  the  same  revival  in  England,  Scot- 
land, and  Wales,  I  have  no  means  of  ascertaining. 
But  it  admits  not  of  a  doubt,  that  a  great  multitude 
were  "  turned  to  the  Lord."  It  was  a  mighty  and 
glorious  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  both  here  and  there, 
such  as  had  not  been  witnessed  for  ages. 

In  looking  back,  it  is  exceedingly  interesting  to 
find  a  revival  of  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  the  Ref- 
ormation, in  the  preaching  of  all  the  distinguished 
ministers  under  whom  the  work  was  carried  on. 
However  they  might  differ  on  some  points,  they 
"saw  eye  to  eye,"  and  "their  testimony  agreed  to- 
gether" in  every  thing  that  was  essential  for  bring- 
ing sinners  to  repentance,  and  building  up  the  churches 
in  the  most  holy  faith. 

Enemies  there  were  to  the  truth,  opposers  there 
were  to  the  revival,  scattered  all  over  the  land ;  min- 
isters there  were  who  stood  aloof  from  it,  but  the 
preaching  was  evangelical.  "The  subjects  chiefly 
insisted  on,  were  the  sin  and  apostasy  of  mankind  in 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  — AMERICA.  83 

Adam  ;  the  blindness  of  the  natural  man  in  the  things 
of  God;  the  enmity  of  the  carnal  mind;  the  evil  of 
sin;  the  desert  of  it,  and  the  utter  inability  of  the 
fallen  creature  to  relieve  itself;  the  sovereignty  of 
God  ;  the  way  of  redemption  by  Christ ;  justification 
through  his  imputed  righteousness  received  by  faith ; 
this  faith  the  gift  of  God,  and  a  living  principle  that 
worketh  by  love ;  the  nature  and  necessity  of  regen- 
eration, and  sanctification  by  the  Holy  Spirit;  and 
that  without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord."  ' 

"The  principal  means  of  the  great  revival,"  says 
the  "  Testimony "  of  a  large  number  of  pastors  in 
eastern  Massachusetts,  printed  and  sent  out  to  the 
churches  in  the  summer  of  1745,  "  were  the  more  than 
ordinary  preaching  of  the  more  important  doctrines  of 
Scripture :  as  these,  namely,  The  all-seeing  eye,  purity, 
justice,  truth,  power,  majesty,  and  sovereignty  of  God ; 
the  spirituality,  holiness,  extent,  and  strictness' of  his 
law ;  our  original  sin,  guilt,  depravity,  and  corruption 
by  the  fall,  including  a  miserable  ignorance  of  God 
and  enmity  against  him  ;  our  impotency  and  aversion 
to  turn  to  him,  the  necessity  that  his  law  should  be 
fulfilled,  his  justice  satisfied,  the  honor  of  his  holiness, 
authority,  and  truth,  maintained  in  his  conduct  tow- 
ards us ;  our  utter  impotence  to  help  ourselves,  and 
our  continual  hazard  of  being  sent  into  endless  mis- 
ery ;  the  astonishing  displays  of  the  absolute  wisdom 
and  grace  of  God,  in  contriving  and  providing  for  our 
redemption;  the  divinity,  mediation,  perfect  holiness, 
obedience,  sacrifice,  merits,  satisfaction,  purchase,  and 
grace  of  Christ ;  the  nature  and  necessity  of  regener- 
ation to  the  holy  image  of  God  by  the  supernatural 


84  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

operation  of  the  divine  Spirit,  with  the  various  parts 
of  his  office  in  enlightening  our  minds,  awakening  our 
consciences,  and  wounding,  breaking,  humbling,  sub- 
duing, and  changing  our  hearts.  Also  the  nature  of 
gospel  obedience  and  holiness,  and  their  necessity, 
not  as  matter  of  justification,  but  as  the  fruit  and 
evidence  of  justifying  faith,  and  to  glorify  God  and 
enjoy  him,  the  principal  end  both  of  our  creation  and 
redemption ;  and  lastly,  the  sovereignty  of  the  grace 
of  God  in  this  whole  transaction,  from  its  original 
purpose  to  its  consummation  in  glory." 

I  am  next  constrained,  in  passing,  to  glance  at 
those  "  bodily  exercises "  which  profit  little,  and 
which  in  some  places  disturbed  the  regular  order  of 
worship,  both  in  public  and  private.  It  were  to  be 
wished,  that  in  a  revival  there  should  be  no  excite- 
ment beyond  what  the  truth,  faithfully  addressed  to 
the  understanding,  and  applied  to  the  heart  and  the 
conscience,  is  calculated  to  produce.  But  the  time 
had  not  then  come.  There  were  nervous  contortions, 
fainting,  shrieking,  and  other  disturbances,  which 
sometimes  quite  drowned  the  voice  of  the  preacher ; 
which  were  looked  upon  by  many  as  the  genuine  oper- 
ations of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  of  course  encouraged, 
rather  than  repressed. 

Mr.  Whitefield,  in  the  early  part  of  his  rousing 
ministry,  undoubtedly  rejoiced  to  witness  these  surg- 
ings  and  outcries  in  the  vast  multitudes  under  his 
preaching.  Long  experience  and  observation,  how- 
ever, very  much  modified  his  early  impressions,  if  they 
did  not  convince  him  that  shrieks  and  convulsions 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY— AMERICA.  85 

were  no  certain  proofs  of  genuine  conviction.  Some 
other  popular  preachers  evidently  encouraged  these 
outbreaks,  under  the  persuasion  that  they  were  ex- 
cited by  the  mighty  power  of  God.  Even  Edwards, 
in  his  early  experience  in  revivals,  seems  not  very 
decidedly  to  have  discountenanced  them ;  but  observ- 
ing how  little  they  profited,  how  soon  they  passed 
away,  as  the  morning  cloud  and  the  early  dew,  he 
"  stood  more  and  more  in  doubt  of  them,"  and  used 
his  influence  to  discourage  them,  as  in  his  searching 
treatise  on  the  Affections. 

The  leading  ministers  in  Boston  and  many  others 
were  from  the  first  afraid  of  them,  as  calculated  rather 
to  mar  and  bring  the  revival  into  discredit,  than  to 
promote  and  extend  it ;  and  wherever  they  were 
promptly  checked,  the  revival  went  on  quietly,  with 
great  solemnity,  and  produced  more  genuine  and 
abundant  fruit. 

On  the  other  hand,  while  some  of  the  most  zealous 
and  successful  preachers  of  the  day  relied  too  much 
upon  such  outward  demonstrations,  others  went  quite 
into  the  opposite  extreme,  and  set  themselves  to  dis- 
countenance the  work  and  keep  it  out  of  their  parish- 
es, under  the  impression  that  if  there  was  some  good 
in  it,  it  was  vastly  overbalanced  by  the  fanaticism 
which  it  engendered  and  promoted.  This  opposition 
was  a  great  damper  upon  the  revival,  and  great  evils 
and  divisions  grew  out  of  the  two  extremes.  As 
religion  had  sunk  so  low  when  this  great  awakening 
broke  in  upon  the  deep  slumber  of  the  churches,  it  is 
not  strange  that  they  fell  into  mistakes  and  extremes 
which  many  of  the  ministers  afterwards   saw  and 


86  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

lamented.  Notwithstanding  these  agitations  upon 
the  surface,  the  undercurrent  was  borne  on  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  and  watering  the  fields,  produced 
abundant  harvests. 

But  a  check  was  coining  in  from  an  unexpected 
quarter,  which,  to  a  lamentable  extent,  arrested  its 
progress.  It  was  not  the  opposition  of  the  enemies 
of  the  work.  In  spite  of  all  they  could  do  to  arrest 
it,  it  might  have  gone  on  indefinitely.  It  was  not  an 
enemy  but  a  friend  who  did  it ;  and  of  this  he  deeply 
repented,  when  it  was  too  late  to  repair  the  mischief. 

In  looking  back  upon  the  progress  of  the  great 
awakening,  up  to  1742,  it  is  evident  that  the  excite- 
ments which  attended  it,  and  were  but  too  much  en- 
couraged in  many  places,  prepared  the  way  for  that 
outburst  of  fanaticism  which  Edwards  and  others, 
who  had  seen  and  rejoiced  in  the  salvation  of  God, 
so  deeply  deplored. 

From  the  strong  persuasion  that  those  bodily  agi- 
tations, groans,  and  outcries  which  they  had  witness- 
ed, were  essential  features  and  parts  of  the  revival,  it 
was  but  a  step  or  two  more  to  visions  and  revelations, 
when  a  leader  should  arise,  of  unquestioned  piety, 
whose  praise  was  in  the  churches.  Such  a  leader  was 
the  Rev.  James  Davenport,  a  lineal  descendant  of  the 
renowned  John  Davenport  of  New  Haven  and  Bos- 
ton, which  circumstance  no  doubt  added  to  his  influ- 
ence over  many  predisposed  minds.  He  was  settled 
at  Southold,  Long  Island,  and  was  a  favorite  of 
Whitefield.  He  had  stood  high  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Tennents.  Mr.  Whitefield  said  he  never  knew  one 
keep  so  "  close  a  walk  with  God ;"  and  Mr.  Parsons 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY— AMERICA.  87 

of  Lyme,  another  distinguished  laborer  in  the  work, 
said  that  not  one  minister  whom  he  had  seen  was  to 
be  compared  to  Mr.  Davenport  for  living  near  to 
God,  and  having  his  conversation  always  in  heaven. 
When  he  had  lost  his  balance,  after  performing  great 
and  successful  labors,  he,  more  than  any  other  man, 
embodied  in  himself  and  promoted  in  others  the  ex- 
travagances into  which  the  revival  was  running.  In 
admiring  the  "  spirit  of  the  age,"  as  it  appeared  in 
him,  men  of  a  fanatical  turn  admired  their  own  spirit. 
Going  foremost  in  the  wrong  direction,  he  was  by 
many  regarded  as  a  model  man  and  preacher,  by  a 
comparison  with  whom  all  others  were  to  be  judged. 
It  appears  from  the  concurrent  testimony  of  all 
parties,  that  his  influence,  so  far  as  it  was  felt,  brought 
the  revival  to  a  crisis.  Commencing  with  his  own 
church,  he  called  those  whom  he  esteemed  regenerate, 
brother,  and  the  others,  neighbor ;  the  latter  of  whom 
he  soon  forbade  to  come  to  the  Lord's  table.  He 
next  went  from  place  to  place  denouncing  churches 
that  hesitated  to  receive  him,  claiming  the  right  to 
demand  of  ministers  the  grounds  of  their  Christian 
hope ;  and  when  they  refused  to  answer,  or  their 
answers  were  unsatisfactory,  he  declared  them  to  be 
imconverted,  and  warned  the  people  against  hearing 
them.  When,  on  a  certain  occasion,  four  ministers 
called  to  see  him  and  remonstrate  against  his  career, 
he  broke  out  and  vehemently  lectured  them  as  uncon- 
verted men,  blind  guides,  wolves  in  sheep's  clothing, 
and  the  like;  and  wound  up  by  offering  a  prayer, 
partly  for  their  conversion,  and  partly  against  them. 
Thus  he  went  on  from  place  to  place,  demanding  of 


88  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

ministers  an  account  of  their  religious  experience, 

and  condemning  all  who  refused  to  give  it.     In  this 

fanatical  mission,  to  which  he  nothing  doubted  God 

had  called  him,  he  became  more  and  more  excited  in 

denouncing  all  who  opposed  him,  encouraging  visions 

and  revelations  among  his  deluded  followers,  dividing 

I  and  breaking  up  churches,  and  bringing  great  reproach 

1  upon  the  revival  by  leading  many  unwarrantably  to 

I  identify  it  with  these  deplorable  proceedings. 

^The  epidemic  reached  its  crisis  at  New  London, 
in  the  month  of  March,  1743,  where  he  gave  out  a 
catalogue  of  religious  books  which  must  be  brought 
together  and  burned,  as  unsafe  in  the  hands  of  the 
people.  They  were  accordingly  carried  to  the  wharf 
and  burned  by  his  followers,  singing  round  the  pile 
Hallelujah  and  glory  to  God,  and  declaring,  that  as 
the  smoke  of  these  books  ascended  up  in  their  pres- 
ence, so  the  smoke  of  the  torment  of  such  of  their 
authors  as  died  in  the  same  belief,  was  now  ascending 
in  hell.  Strange  to  tell,  among  those  authors  were 
Berridge,  Flavel,  Mather,  Colman,  and  Sewall,  not 
even  sparing  Parsons,  one  of  the  most  fervid  revival- 
ists. This  was  the  last  and  crowning  act  of  fanati- 
cism, so  far  at  least  as  Davenport  was  concerned. 
From  this  time  he  disappears  from  the  stage,-  till  the 
summer  of  1744.  Charity  believes  that  this  burning 
zeal,  spurning  all  restraint,  then  reached  the  crisis  of 
absolute  mental  derangement.  But,  blessed  be  God, 
it  was  not  to  last ;  and  when  he  came  to  himself,  he 
the  next  year  published,  July  28,  1744,  his  humble 
recantations,  from  which,  in  justice  to  him,  I  make 
the  following  brief  extracts  : 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY— AMERICA.  89 

"  Although  I  do  not  question  at  all  but  there  is 
great  reason  to  bless  God  for  a  glorious  and  won- 
derful work  of  his  power  and  grace,  in  the  edification 
of  his  children,  and  the  conviction  and  conversion  of 
numbers  in  New  England,  in  the  neighboring  govern- 
ments, and  several  other  parts,  within  a  few  years 
past,  and  believe  that  the  Lord  hath  favored  me,  though 
most  unworthy,  in  granting  special  assistance  and 
success,  the  glory  of  all  which  be  given  to  Jehovah, 
to  whom  the  glory  belongs ;  yet,  after  frequent  medi- 
tation and  desires  that  I  might  be  enabled  to  appre- 
hend things  justly,  I  am  fully  convinced  and  per- 
suaded that  several  appendages  of  this  glorious  work 
are  no  essential  parts  thereof,  but  of  a  different  and 
contrary  nature  and  tendency,  which  I  have  been  in- 
strumental in  promoting  by  a  misguided  zeal ;  being, 
further,  much  influenced  in  the  affair  by  the  false  spirit 
which  prompted  me  to  unjust  apprehensions  and  con- 
duct in  several  particulars,  which  have  been  great 
blemishes  to  the  work  of  God,  very  grievous  to  some  of 
God's  children,  no  less  ensnaring  and  corrupting  to 
others  of  them,  the  sad  means  of  many  persons  question- 
ing the  work  of  God,  concluding  and  appearing  against 
it,  and  of  the  hardening  of  multitudes  in  their  sins,  and 
an  awful  occasion  of  the  enemy's  blaspheming  the  right 
way  of  the  Lord,  and  very  offensive  to  that  God  before 
whom  I  would  lie  in  the  dust  prostrate  in  deep  humil- 
ity and  repentance,  imploring  pardon  for  the  Media- 
tor's sake,  and  thankfully  accepting  the  token  thereof. 

"  The  articles  which  I  specially  refer  to,  and  in 
the  most  public  manner  retract  and  warn  others 
against,  are  these  which  follow : 


90  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

"1.  The  method  I  used  for  a  considerable  time 
with  respect  to  some  ministers,  in  openly  exposing 
such  as  I  feared  or  thought  unconverted,  in  public 
prayer  or  otherwise ;  herein  making  my  private  judg- 
ment, in  which  also  I  much  suspect  I  was  mistaken  in 
several  instances,  the  ground  of  public  actions  or 
conduct,  offending  against  the  laws  both  of  justice 
and  charity. 

"  2.  By  advising  and  urging  to  such  separations 
from  those  ministers  whom  I  treated  as  above,  as  I 
believe  may  justly  be  called  rash,  unwarrantable,  and 
of  sad  and  awful  tendency  and  consequence;  and 
here  I  would  ask  the  forgiveness  of  those  ministers 
whom  I  have  injured. 

*^  3.  I  confess  I  have  been  much  led  astray  by  fol- 
lowing impulses  or  impressions  as  a  rule  of  conduct, 
whether  they  came  with  or  without  a  text  of  Scrip- 
ture. I  am  persuaded  this  was  a  great  means  of  cor- 
rupting my  experiences  in  carrying  me  off  from  the 
word  of  Grod. 

*'  4.  I  believe  further  that  I  have  done  much  hurt 
to  religion,  by  encouraging  private  persons  to  a  mag- 
isterial or  authoritative  kind  of  method  of  exhorting, 
which  is  particularly  observable  in  many  such  being 
much  puffed  up  and  falling  into  the  snare  of  the  devil, 
while  many  others  are  thus  directly  prejudiced  against 
the  work. 

"  And  now  may  the  holy  and  wise  and  good  God 
be  pleased  to  guard  and  secure  me  against  such  errors 
for  the  future,  and  stop  the  progress  of  those,  whether 
ministers  or  people,  who  have  been  corrupted  by  my 
words  or  example;  and  Oh,  may  he  grant  withal, 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY— AMERICA.  91 

that  such  as  by  reason  of  the  foresaid  errors  and  mis- 
conduct have  entertained  unhappy  prejudices  against 
Christianity  in  general,  or  the  late  glorious  work  of 
God  in  particular,  may  by  this  account  learn  to  dis- 
tinguish the  appendages  from  the  substance  or  essence, 
that  which  is  vile  and  odious  from  that  which  is  pre- 
cious, glorious,  and  divine,  and  thus  be  entirely  and 
happily  freed  from  all  those  prejudices  referred  to, 
and  this  in  infinite  mercy  through  Jesus  Christ ;  and 
to  these  requests  may  all  G-od's  children,  whether 
ministers  or  others,  say,  Amen." 

That  so  pious  and  devoted  a  minister  as  Mr. 
Davenport  was  believed  to  be  by  his  contemporaries 
who  knew  him  best,  and  as  he  doubtless  was,  should 
be  left  to  bring  so  much  distrust  and  reproach  upon 
the  most  glorious  revival  that  the  country  had  ever 
enjoyed,  was  a  mystery  which  will  not  be  fully  dis- 
closed till  the  judgment  of  the  great  day.  But  it  is 
full  of  instruction  and  warning.  The  great  Head 
of  the  church  may  have  seen  that  such  a  lesson  of 
human  weakness  at  its  best  estate,  should  be  put 
upon  record  as  a  warning  to  "the  generations  fol- 
lowing." 

The  rapid  sketch  which  I  have  given  of  that  won- 
derful time  of  refreshing,  almost  a  century  and  a  quar- 
ter ago,  would  have  been  one-sided  and  incomplete 
if  I  had  omitted  these  statements.  It  is  due  to  those 
into  whose  hands  this  epitome  may  fall,  that  they 
should  be  put  on  their  guard  against  such  outbreaks 
of  animal  excitement  and  enthusiasm  as  have  marred 
and  cut  short  former  revivals. 


92  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

After  making  every  abatement,  tlie  years  of  the 
"  Great  Awakening  "  were  precious  years  of  the  right 
hand  of  the  Most  High.  It  left  the  churches  of  New 
England  in  a  far  sounder  and  better  state  than  it 
found  them.  It  effectually  shut  the  door  against  ad- 
mitting unregenerate  persons  to  the  Lord's  supper 
as  a  converting  ordinance,  which  Mr.  Stoddard  had 
unhappily  opened  in  his  own  church,  and  by  his  writ- 
ings in  others.  Reasoning  out  of  the  Scriptures,  Mr. 
Edwards,  in  his  "  Terms  of  Communion,"  showed  the 
practice  to  be  wholly  indefensible;  and  I  am  not 
aware  that  any  evangelical  church  has  favored  it 
since.  This  was  a  great  gain.  Had  the  practice 
been  continued,  and  become  universal,  it  would  have 
been  more  than  a  paralysis.  The  churches  might 
have  retained  their  names,  but  as  true  churches  of 
Christ  they  would  not  have  survived. 

Another  important  gain  was,  that  the  revival, 
widely  extended  and  powerful  as  it  was,  prepared 
the  way  for  freeing  the  churches  from  the  "  Half-way 
Covenant."  Though  in  some  quarters  it  held  its 
ground  longer,  it  was  very  much  circumscribed.  We 
shall  meet  with  some  remains  of  it  hereafter,  but  dy- 
ing out. 

Another  immense  gain  to  the  cause  of  Christ  was, 
that  it  greatly  relieved  the  churches  from  the  sopo- 
rific influence  of  an  unconverted  ministry.  It  was 
admitted  that  there  were  unconverted  pastors  over 
some  of  the  churches,  and  regeneration  had  come  to 
be  thought  by  many  no  essential  qualification  for  the 
sacred  office.  It  was  held,  that  if  preachers  were 
men  of  blameless  lives  they  were  not  to  be  rejected 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY— AMERICA.  93 

though  they  did  not  profess  to  have  been  born  again. 
Some  of  this  number  were  the  subjects  of  the  revival, 
and  confessed  that  they  had  preached  for  years  with- 
out knowing  what  experimental  piety  was.  In  this 
respect  the  revival  prepared  the  way  for  a  great 
change  for  the  better.  It  is  not  claimed  that  there 
can  be  any  certain  protection  against  the  intrusion 
of  unconverted  men  into  the  ministry.  The  strictest 
examination  for  the  cure  of  souls  cannot  shut  them 
out.  for  God  alone  knows  the  heart ;  but  that  none 
save  converted  men  are  fit  to  enter  the  ministry,  is 
now  universally  held  by  the  evangelical  churches  of 
all  denominations. 

Moreover,  the  preaching  in  the  orthodox  churches 
has,  ever  since  this  great  revival,  been  more  spir- 
itual and  discriminating  than  it  was  when  it  began. 
The  cardinal  doctrines  of  universal  and  entire  de- 
pravity, regeneration  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  justifi- 
cation by  faith  alone,  with  other  kindred  evangelical 
topics  drawn  from  the  word  of  God,  held  from  that 
time  forth  a  more  prominent  place  in  the  ministra- 
tions of  the  pulpit,  than  they  had  done  for  ages 
before. 

Hence,  though  all  that  could  have  been  desired 
was  not  accomplished,  the  good  seed  was  sown  broad- 
cast over  the  land ;  and  though  we  shall  find,  in  the 
next  period,  that  many  hostile  influences  checked  its 
growth  for  nearly  half  a  century,  it  was  so  far  from 
being  lost  where  it  did  not  spring  up  at  once,  that  it 
was  to  take  root  and  grow  and  ripen  into  other  har- 
vests, with  more  wheat,  fewer  tares,  and  less  chaff. 


94  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  REVIVAL  EPOCH  ABOUT   1800. 

Passing  from  the  glorious  revival  period,  about 
the  middle  of  the  last  century,  under  the  preaching 
of  Edwards,  Whitefield,  the  two  Tennents,  Dr.  Bel- 
lamy, and  other  apostolic  laborers,  we  find  the  shad- 
ows of  a  long  night  settling  down  again  upon  the 
churches  of  this  land.  Like  Israel  of  old,  the  most 
of  them  were  in  the  wilderness  about  forty  years, 
and  only  kept  alive  by  supplies  of  the  heavenly 
manna,  and  of  the  water  from  the  Rock.  From  1745, 
to  near  the  close  of  the  century,  the  Holy  Spirit  with- 
held in  a  great  measure  those  copious  refreshings, 
which  had  turned  so  many  parched  fields  into  gar- 
dens of  the  Lord,  and  made  their  fruit  shake  like 
Lebanon.  At  no  time,  indeed,  during  that  period 
was  it  all  dark,  all  barren.  All  along,  here  and 
there  over  the  wide  waste,  some  precious  revivals 
broke  out,  "  like  streams  in  the  desert,"  to  keep  alive 
the  faith,  and  gladden  the  hearts  of  those  who  mourn- 
ed over  the  desolations  of  Zion.  Towards  the  close 
of  the  period,  there  were  more  of  these  than  I  had 
supposed,  till  I  met  with  notices  of  several  of  unmis- 
takable genuineness  between  1770  and  1790  in  New 
England  and  the  Middle  States  including  the  new 
settlements  of  Western  Pennsylvania,  and  with  some 
further  south,  especially  as  recorded  in  Dr.  Alexan- 
der's narrative  of  what  he  himself  witnessed  in  South- 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  95 

ern  and  Western  Yirginia,  about  1790.*  These  were 
the  harbingers  of  that  bright  rising  of  the  Sun  of 
righteousness,  which  I  am  now  approaching  in  these 
revival  sketches. 

It  had  been  a  long  hard  winter,  in  which  the  cur- 
rent of  spiritual  life  was  all  but  frozen  up,  and  it 
seemed  almost  as  if  the  winding-sheet  which  was 
spread  over  the  land  would  never  be  taken  off.  But 
at  the  same  time,  precious  fruits  of  the  great  harvest 
which  had  been  garnered  remained.  None  of  the 
churches,  I  believe,  that  had  renounced  the  Half-way 
Covenant  in  the  Great  Awakening,  brought  it  back 
again,  though  it  still  lingered  in  churches  which  that 
revival,  if  it  reached  them  at  all,  left  but  half  re- 
formed. I  found  it  in  Fairfield,  Connecticut,  where  I 
was  first  settled,  in  1807.  Some  other  churches  in  that 
county  had  not  yet  given  it  up.  It  was  also  found  in 
some  of  the  Presbyterian  churches,  and  it  prevailed 
extensively  for  some  time  longer  in  the  eastern  and 
central  parts  of  Massachusetts.  If  it  still  darkens 
the  half-open  door  of  any  evangelical  church,  I  do  not 
know  where  it  is.  Other  vantage  ground  was  gained 
in  the  "  Great  Awakening,"  from  which  the  churches 
did  not  slide  back. 

But  although,  when  a  brighter  day  dawned  near 
the  close  of  the  century,  it  was  not  necessary  to  "  lay 
again  the  foundation  of  repentance  from  dead  works, 
and  of  faith  towards  God,"  as  in  the  preceding  ref- 
ormation, the  building  did  not  go  up.  Dark  days 
intervened,   during  which,   instead   of  making   any 

*  See  the  Life  of  Dr.  Arcliibald  Alexander,  by  Dr.  James 
W.  Alexander,  chs.  2,  3,  4. 


96  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

aggressive  inroads  upon  the  kingdom  of  darkness,  the 
churches  lost  ground.  The  fathers  and  mothers  who 
had  been  converted  under  Edwards  and  the  other 
rousing  preachers  of  his  day,  were  passing  off  from 
the  stage,  and  but  few  of  the  younger  generation  were 
coming  on  to  fill  their  places.  Many  orthodox  church- 
es might  be  named,  into  which  for  long  years  no  young 
persons,  or  next  to  none,  were  received. 

Most  of  the  ministers,  indeed,  where  the  great  re- 
vivals in  the  middle  of  the  century  had  been  enjoyed, 
were  sound  in  the  faith,  and  preached  the  distinguish- 
ing doctrines  of  the  gospel.  In  obedience  to  the  word 
of  the  Lord,  they  kept  on  prophesying  over  the  dry 
bones;  but  for  the  most  part  were  constrained  to 
ask,  "Who  hath  believed  our  report?  and  to  whom 
is  the  arm  of  the  Lord  revealed?"  While  they  did 
not  cease  to  pray,  "  0  Lord,  revive  thy  work  in  the 
midst  of  the  years,  in  wrath  remember  mercy,"  they 
hardly  dared  to  hope  for  so  great  a  blessing.  Such 
was  the  state  of  things  till  near  the  close  of  the 
century. 

We  are  next  to  inquire,  what  were  the  causes  of 
the  alarming  dearth  and  declension  just  mentioned, 
before  we  hail  the  dawn  of  a  brighter  day.  In  look- 
ing back  upon  that  period,  some  of  these  causes  are 
too  obvious  to  be  mistaken. 

First  came  what  is  familiarly  called,  the  "  Old 
French  war."  While  we  slept,  the  enemy,  ever 
awake  and  aggressive,  had  been  skilfully  drawing 
a  line  of  circumvallation  quite  round  the  English 
colonies,  to  hem  us  in,  by  building  a  chain  of  forts 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  97 

from  Louisburg  and  Quebec  on  the  north,  by  the  way 
of  Detroit  and  St.  Louis,  down  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi.  And  now  it  was,  that  France,  aided  by 
the  warlike  tribes  of  Indians  whom  she  could  enlist 
in  the  bloody  enterprise,  sought  to  bring  all  North 
America  under  the  yoke  of  Rome.  God  interposed, 
and  the  attempt  signally  failed.  But  the  danger, 
while  it  lasted,  created  universal  alarm ;  and  the 
necessary  defence  of  the  frontiers  demanded  all  the 
force  that  could  be  raised,  and  absorbed  the  anxious 
minds  of  the  whole  population.  In  this  state  of  things, 
it  would  have  been  strange  indeed  if  the  churches 
had  been  visited  by  revivals — if  the  cause  of  Christ 
had  not  declined,  as  it  did. 

Scarcely  was  that  danger  over,  when  serious  dijffi- 
culties  broke  out  between  the  colonists  and  the  moth- 
er country,  and  continued  to  increase  till  they  issued 
in  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  Here,  again,  it  would 
have  been  very  remarkable  if,  in  the  midst  of  all 
these  agitations  of  the  then  infant  settlements,  revi- 
vals had  sprung  up.  They  did  not.  Humanly  speak- 
ing, there  was  no  room  for  them.  And  we  know  that 
God  works  by  means,  in  favorable  seasons,  and  orders 
events  for  building  up  his  churches,  as  well  as  for 
accomplishing  his  other  great  purposes. 

When  the  war  of  IndepeuLdeiifiej3rQka.ojiiU.QXLl^»- 
the  state  of  the  country  was,  if  possible,  still  more 
unfavorable  to  the  progress  of  true  religion.  It  was 
a  struggle  for  colonial  emancipation,  with  one  of  the 
most  powerful  nations  of  the  world,  which  lasted 
seven  years,  during  which  the  shifting  and  sometimes 
the  almost  despairing  fortunes  of  the  bloody  contest 

lUv.  Sketches.  5 


98  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

swallowed  up  every  other  interest;  so  that  instead 
of  revival  rejoicings,  were  heard  the  confused  noise 
of  the  battle  of  the  warriors,  "  the  thunder  of  the  cap- 
tains, and  the  shouting."  In  such  a  state  of  things, 
when  the  American  armies  were  wading  through  frost 
and  blood  to  conquer  national  independence,  and  the 
anxious  hopes  and  fears  of  the  whole  people  were 
alternately  swallowed  up  in  the  mighty  struggle,  how 
could  religion  prosper  ?  The  Spirit  of  God  is  a  spirit 
of  peace,  and  not  of  war.  I  know  that  God  is  able 
to  build  up  his  churches  in  the  midst  of  wars  and 
fightings,  just  as  he  is  able  to  awaken  and  convert 
hardened  sinners  under  the  most  unfavorable  circum- 
stances; but  this  is  not  his  manner.  To  show  that 
he  will  have  mercy  on  whom  he  v/ill  have  mercy,  and 
that  he  can  carry  on  his  work  in  spite  of  the  most 
hostile  influences,  he  may  work  wonders.  But  how 
few  revivals  have  ever  been  witnessed  in  the  midst 
of  a  desolating  war.  If  any,  they  have  been  extra- 
ordinary interpositions  of  divine  sovereignty.  Some 
may  have  occurred  during  the  seven  years'  war ;  but 
if  any,  I  do  not  know  where  to  find  the  record.  Cer- 
tain I  am,  that  that  bloody  contest  was  directly  op- 
posed, as  all  wars  are,  to  the  spiritual  growth  of  the 
churches.  It  left  them  much  weaker  than  it  found 
them. 

When  it  closed,  and  the  armies  were  disbanded, 
many  of  the  officers  and  soldiers  brought  home  with 
them  the  dissipated  and  demoralizing  habits  of  the 
camp,  such  as  profaneness,  intemperance,  and  Sab- 
bath-breaking— influences  as  hostile  to  revivals  as  the 
war  itself.     And  scarcelv  less  so  was  the  unsettled 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  99 

state  of  affairs  throughout  the  country,  till  the  new 
government  was  organized  and  established  by  the 
adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution.  The  minds  of 
the  people  were  too  much  agitated  and  engrossed  by 
conflicting  political  interests,  to  have  much  room  for 
more  than  the  ordinary  routine  of  religious  obser- 
vances. Revivals  were  hardly  expected  anywhere 
during  those  years  of  civil  agitation,  and  they  were 
not  enjoyed.  Zion  languished.  While  the  form  of 
godliness  remained  in  the  churches,  there  was  but 
little  of  the  power. 

In  the  mean  time,  as  might  have  been  expected, 
French  In^AelUy,  which  our  allies  brought  over  with 
them,  was  sowed  broadcast  among  our  own  officers 
and  soldiers.  Aided  by  Paine's  "  Age  of  Reason/' 
Voltaire's  assaults  upon  Christianity,  Volney's  Ruins, 
and  other  blasphemous  publications,  it  spread  rapidly, 
especially  among  the  upper  classes.  TheJQluminati^ 
so  called,  of  France  and  Germany,  who  were  secretly 
associated  for  the  overthrow  of  all  existing  religious 
institutions,  had  their  affiliated  societies  in  this  coun- 
try, enrolling  not  a  few  men  of  high  social  and  politi-  • 
cal  standing  and  influence.  It  became  fashionable, 
in  high  places  and  low  places,  flippantly  to  prate 
against  the  Bible,  and  sneer  at  things  sacred  and  di- 
vine. Instead  of  the  Scriptures,  French  philosophy 
claimed  to  be  the  rule  of  faith  and  life,  and  ignoring 
all  the  "  rights  of  God,"  was  to  usher  in  the  glorious 
millennium  of  the  "  rights  of  man." 

Towards  the  close  of  that  period,  in  1789,  broke 
out  the  French  Revolution,  the  bloodiest  of  all  revolu- 
tions, which  was  not  only  to  sweep  away  the  throne, 


100  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

and  level  all  the  civil  distinctions  of  society,  but  to 
destroy  the  priesthood,  root  and  branch,  abolish  the 
Sabbath,  and  establish  the  reign  of  liberty  and  equality 
on  the  ruins.  Though  the  unheard  of  atrocities  of 
that  reign  of  terror  sent  a  thrill  of  horror  through  the 
whole  civilized  world,  so  dear  was  our  new-born 
liberty  to  us,  that  the  very  name  had  a  charm  in  it, 
which  at  first  excited  our  fraternal  sympathies,  not- 
withstanding our  abhorrence  of  the  fiendish  atrocities 
by  which  it  had  been  sought  to  be  acquired. 

How  hostile  all  this  was  to  the  interests  of  pure 
and  undefiled  religion  it  is  needless  to  say ;  and  when 
from  this  point  we  look  back  to  the  reaction  which 
followed  the  Great  Awakening,  and  then  come  down 
through  the  revolutionary  war  to  the  return  of  peace, 
which  brought  with  it  the  moral  camp-distemper  that 
wars  always  generate,  and  glance  at  the  agitations 
of  the  public  mind  which  preceded  the  adoption  of  the 
Federal  constitution,  who  can  wonder  that  there  were 
so  few  revivals,  or  rather,  not  wonder  that  there  were 
any  during  all  that  upheaving  tempestuous  period.  It 
seemed  as  if  the  floods  of  ungodliness  must  swallow 
up  the  church.  The  few  survivors  who  remembered 
the  days  of  old,  when  multitudes  were  gathered  in  the 
times  of  refreshing  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord, 
were  ready  to  ask.  Are  the  mercies  of  God  clean 
gone  for  ever  ?    Will  he  be  favorable  no  more  ? 

But  just  then  when  it  seemed  to  grow  darker  and 
darker,  the  night  was  far  spent,  and  the  day  was  at 
hand.  A  few  years  before  the  close  of  the  century 
the  light  of  a  new  revival  epoch  began  to  dawn.  Here 
and  there  a  church  rose  and  shook  herself  from  the 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  101 

dust.  Sinners  were  awakened,  and  began  to  inquire 
what  they  must  do  to  be  saved.  So  that  when  the  old 
century  was  departing,  and  the  new  century  came  in, 
many  a  field  that  had  long  been  languishing  began  to 
rejoice  under  the  reviving  influence.  Christ  by  his 
Spirit  came  down,  here  and  there,  like  rain  upon  the 
mown  grass,  and  like  showers  that  water  the  earth. 

It  is  of  the  commencement,  and  progress,  and  fruits 
of  that  remarkable  revival  epoch,  that  I  am  now  to 
speak,  reserving  for  subsequent  pages  a  notice  of  the 
remarkable  work  which  God  was  effecting  simultane- 
ously in  the  mother  country. 

And  here  ample  materials  are  at  hand  for  a  vol- 
ume, in  the  narratives  drawn  up  at  the  time  by  pas- 
tors of  the  churches,  and  published  in  the  Connecticut 
Evangelical  Magazine  and  other  religious  annals.  Of 
these  I  shall  avail  myself  as  far  as  my  design  and 
limits  will  admit. 

And  here  let  me  say,  it  is  with  no  ordinary  solici- 
tude that  I  approach  this  remarkable  revival  epoch. 
The  theme  is  high ;  I  cannot  attain  unto  it.  0  Lord, 
help  my  infirmities.  It  is  a  gloriously  illuminated 
chapter  in  the  History  of  Redemption.  It  were  easy 
to  collect  materials  more  than  enough.  But  to  con- 
dense and  arrange  them  in  the  best  manner ;  to  show 
in  what  respects  this  revival  epoch  differed  from  those 
in  the  preceding  centuries,  at  which  I  have  already 
glanced  ;  to  gather  up  its  precious  fruits,  and  to  show 
its  bearing  upon  the  further  advancement  of  the  Re- 
deemer's kingdom,  is  a  task  which,  so  far  as  I  know, 
has  not  yet  been  accomplished  by  any  one,  and  to 


102  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

whicli  I  feel  myself  very  unequal.  Nevertheless,  the 
plan  which  I  have  marked  out  for  chronicling  the 
triumphs  of  the  cross  in  these  sketches,  does  not  allow 
me  to  shrink  from  the  attempt. 

When  this  fresh  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  began,  I 
was  just  coming  upon  the  stage,  and  God  had  cast  my 
lot  in  that  part  of  the  vineyard  where  the  gospel  had 
been  faithfully  preached  by  ministers  who  were  anx- 
iously waiting  for  the  Saviour's  return.  I  knew  them, 
and  often  heard  them  preach,  before  and  during  the 
revivals.  Now,  after  more  than  fifty  years,  I  have  a 
distinct  recollection  of  their  countenances,  their  tones 
of  voice,  their  earnest  and  solemn  appeals,  their  going 
out  and  coming  in  among  the  people.  They  had 
diversities  of  natural  gifts  and  acquired  qualifica- 
tions, but  the  same  Spirit.  There  was  no  such  mas- 
sive pillar  among  them  as  Jonathan  Edwards,  to  lean 
upon.  It  was  not  needed.  There  was  no  Whitefield 
to  pass  from  town  to  town,  from  state  to  state,  gather- 
ing his  thousands  in  the  open  air,  and  swaying  them 
by  his  soul  and  tongue  of  fire,  as  the  trees  of  a  forest 
are  bowed  and  shaken  by  mighty  winds.  There  was 
no  voice  like  his  to  fill  the  open  firmament  of  heaven 
with  the  thunderings  of  Sinai,  and  the  melting  tones 
of  Calvary.  But  there  were  Bellamys  to  stand  upon 
the  heights  and  make  the  curses  of  the  law  reverber- 
ate from  Ebal  to  Gerizim,  and  from  Gerizim  to  Ebal. 
As  in  the  primitive  age,  there  were  sons  of  thunder, 
and  sons  of  consolation  among  them.  There  was  the 
younger  Edwards,  a  great  master  of  logic,  and  mighty 
in  the  Scriptures.  There  was  Griffin  having  just 
buckled  on  the  harness,  a  young  Melancthon,  in  the 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  103 

ardor  of  his  first  love  for  Christ,  majestic  in  stature, 
with  a  voice  of  extraordinary  flexibility  and  power, 
combining  some  of  the  finest  tones  of  the  organ  with 
the  softest  and  tenderest  notes  of  the  flute.  I  thought 
then,  and  think  now,  that  I  never  heard  such  a  voice 
in  the  pulpit.  He  was  a  great  preacher  in  the  best 
sense  of  the  term,  and  his  labors,  as  we  shall  see,  were 
abundantly  blessed  in  winning  souls  to  Christ.  And 
then  there  was  Hallock,  quite  his  counterpart  in  some 
respects,  bred  a  farmer  in  one  of  the  small  hill  towns 
of  Massachusetts;  untrained  in  the  higher  schools; 
meek  as  the  meekest  disciple,  always  readier  to  say, 
Brother,  go  up  higher,  than  to  go  himself;  but  a  man 
of  good  natural  talents,  shrewd  common-sense,  deep 
humble  piety,  and  an  irrepressible  longing  after  souls 
in  the  bowels  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  came  late  into  the 
ministry,  and  without  the  slightest  pretension  to  pop- 
ular address  or  rhetoric,  became  one  of  the  most  hon- 
ored, beloved,  and  useful  ministers  of  his  day.  No 
one  was  more  acceptable  in  that  revival  than  he. 

Nor  were  these  more  worthy  or  devoted  than 
many  others.  There  were  Bobbins  and  Backus  and 
Mills  and  Gillett  and  Perkins  and  Strong  and  Porter 
and  Hooker  and  Miller  and  Williams  and  Cooley 
and  Hawley  and  Cowles,  of  like  precious  faith,  whose 
lips  the  Lord  touched  as  with  live  coals  from  off  the 
altar,  whose  parishes  were  contiguous,  and  whose 
labors  were  abundantly  blessed.  Most  of  them  be- 
longed to  the  same  district  association.  They  held 
their  monthly  meetings  for  mutual  improvement  and 
prayer,  in  which  they  wrestled  together  and  prevailed. 
I  have  named  them,  not  as  more  worthy  to  be  had 


104  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

in  everlasting  remembrance  than  Dwight,  Hyde,  Cat- 
lin,  Stillman,  Baldwin,  Manning,  Mason,  Livingston, 
Furman,  Marshall,  and  many  others  of  their  brethren 
in  other  parts  of  the  vineyard  that  were  copiously 
watered  by  the  same  showers,  but  because  I  knew  and 
heard  them,  and  witnessed  the  effects  of  their  labors. 
Their  preaching  was  not  in  man's  wisdom,  but  in 
demonstration  of  the  Spirit,  and  with  power.  It  was 
eminently  scriptural.  The  ministers  of  that  day  read 
and  studied  the  Bible  more  than  all  other  books.  They 
had  received  it  from  their  Master  as  their  only  com- 
mission, and  in  virtue  of  it,  as  ambassadors  for  Christ, 
they  besought  sinners  in  his  stead  to  be  reconciled  to 
God.  It  was  surprising  to  notice  with  what  facility 
they  would  quote  chapter  and  verse  from  all  parts  of 
both  Testaments,  without  turning  over  a  single  leaf. 
Indeed,  it  sometimes  seemed  to  me  as  if  they  knew  all 
the  Bible  by  heart ;  and  it  is  no  disparagement  to 
say,  that  they  did  know  much  more  of  it  than  most 
preachers  do  now.  They  had  a  great  deal  more  of  it 
in  their  sermons.  Almost  all  their  illustrations,  as 
well  as  their  proofs,  were  drawn  from  its  rich  and 
inexhaustible  treasures.  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,"  was 
enough  for  them,  let  who  would  criticize,  cavil,  or 
blaspheme.  They  did  not  shun,  either  from  fear  or 
favor,  to  declare  all  the  counsel  of  God,  as  they  un- 
derstood it,  whether  men  would  hear,  or  whether 
they  would  forbear.  They  did  not  wreathe  the  sword 
around  with  flowers,  but  left  the  two  edges  bare  and 
sharp,  to  cut  where  they  would — the  deeper  the  bet- 
ter ;  and  they  applied  no  emollients  to  heal  the  hurt 
slightly. 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  105 

The  fathers  of  that  day,  of  whom  I  am  speaking, 
"whatever  else  any  of  them  may  have  lacked,  were 
Gamaliels  in  the  law  and  the  prophets.  They  made 
no  appeals  to  the  passions,  and  there  were  no  out- 
cries and  convulsions  under  their  preaching,  as  there 
had  been  in  the  "  Great  Awakening/' 

The  word  of  God.  as  our  minister  used  it,  was  quick 
and  powerful,  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword,  and 
piercing  even  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  the  joints 
and  the  marrow,  and  discerning  the  thoughts  and 
intents  of  the  heart.  Oh  how  we  smarted  under  it. 
I  remember  it  well  in  my  own  case,  and  how  my 
heart  rebelled  against  some  of  the  doctrines  which 
my  Bible  and  my  conscience  told  me  were  true,  till, 
as  I  hope,  I  was  brought  to  bow  and  submit  at  the 
foot  of  the  cross.  And  as  it  was  with  me,  so  it  was 
with  multitudes  of  others.  We  complained  of  some 
of  Paul's  hard  sayings,  and  wondered  why  our  minis- 
ters dwelt  so  much  upon  them.  We  wanted  to  get  to 
heaven  in  some  easier  way.  But  instead  of  abating 
one  jot  or  tittle  to  relieve  us,  they  pressed  harder 
and  harder,  driving  us  from  one  refuge  to  another, 
till  there  was  no  hiding-place  left.  The  law,  which 
we  had  broken  times  without  number,  wo  were  made 
to  feel  was  just ;  its  fiery  penalty  hung  over  our  heads, 
and  we  must  submit  or  die.  Under  such  preaching 
it  was  hard  to  get  hopes ;  but  when  embraced,  they 
were  more  to  be  relied  upon,  than  if  they  had  been 
gained  in  some  easier  way. 

Our  spiritual  guides  and  teachers  never  said  to 
us,  when  under  awakening,  "Don't  be  discouraged; 
wait  God's  time,  and  he  will  deliver  you."     No,  no ; 


106  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

but,  "  How  long  will  you  hold  out  in  your  rebellion 

1  against  God?"     They  never  asked  us  while  in  this 

\  state,  "Don't  you  feel  better?"  but,  "Why  don't  you 

\  submit  to  God,  and  cast  yourselves  upon  his  mercy, 

embracing  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  by  faith,  who  came 

down  from  heaven  on  purpose  to  save  the  lost.    Turn 

ye,  turn  ye ;  why  will  ye  die  ?" 

I  do  not  say  that  this  law  work,  as  it  has  been 
appropriately  called,  was  alike  marked  and  pungent 
in  all  cases.  It  was  not.  He  who  worketh  all  things 
according  to  the  counsel  of  his  own  will,  opened  some 
hearts,  as  he  seems  to  have  opened  that  of  Lydia,  at 
once  to  receive  the  truth  in  the  love  of  it.  But  I  am 
quite  sure,  that  in  most  cases  the  conversions  in  that 
revival  were  preceded  by  sharp  conviction  of  sin  and 
of  deserved  punishment.  It  was  eminently  a  law  revi- 
val, issuing  in  the  more  abundant  and  abiding  conso- 
lations of  the  gospel.  Those  loved  most,  who  felt 
that  they  had  been  forgiven  most. 

As  our  pastors  were  careful  not  to  encourage  us 
that  we  had  passed  from  death  unto  life  without  good 
scripture  evidence  of  the  change,  they  were  very  strict 
in  their  examinations  for  church-membership.  If  they 
thought  any  of  the  candidates  did  not  give  satisfactory 
evidence  of  having  been  converted,  they  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  tell  them  so.  In  this  way,  not  a  few  were 
kept  back,  and  solemnly  exhorted  to  begin  anew,  and 
never  rest  satisfied  till  they  could  obtain  better  evi- 
dence. 

That  some  real  converts  may,  under  this  scrutiny, 
have  been  thrown  into  needless  alarm  and  distress, 
and  kept  out  of  the  church  too  long,  is  not  improba- 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  lOt 

ble ;  but  others  afterwards  thanked  their  pastors,  with 
tears  in  their  eyes,  for  having  dealt  with  them  so 
faithfully,  saying,  We  now  see  that  we  were  building 
on  a  false  foundation ;  and  if  you  had  encouraged  us, 
we  should  in  all  likelihood  have  settled  down  upon 
it  and  lost  our  souls.  On  which  side  it  is  safest  to 
err,  in  dealing  with  new-born  hopes,  who  can  doubt? 
If  a  person  has  been  truly  converted,  no  degree  of 
strictness  in  his  examination,  though  it  should  shake 
his  hope  for  the  time,  and  give  him  needless  distress, 
can  endanger  his  salvation.  Born  of  God,  his  seed  j 
will  remain  in  him,  and  a  prayerful  revision  of  the 
ground  of  his  hope  may  help  in  the  end  to  strengthen 
and  establish  it.  Whereas,  on  the  contrary,  too  much 
encouragement  may  induce  one  who  is  unconverted 
to  settle  down  upon  a  false  hope  and  perish,  who,  to 
human  view,  might  have  been  saved  by  the  faithful 
dealing  of  his  spiritual  teacher.  It  is  not  supposable 
that  the  former,  when  he  gets  to  heaven,  will  be  sorry 
that  his  pastor  was  so  strict  in  examining  the  founda- 
tion of  his  hope,  though  it  may  have  given  him  pain  ; 
but  it  is  more  than  probable,  that  the  latter  may  re- 
proach his  minister  at  the  bar  of  God  for  healing  the 
hurt  slightly. 

In  the  revival  of  which  I  am  now  speaking,  the  ; 
pastors  called  in  no  evangelists  without  charge  to  aid  / 
them.  They  did  all  the  preaching  themselves,  help- 
ing one  another  as  occasion  required.  This  they 
did'  by  occasional  exchanges,  and  oftener  at  weekly 
lectures.  They  also  sometimes  went  round  from  par- 
ish to  parish,  two  and  two  by  appointment.  These 
visits  by  brethren  who  came  with  hearts  warmed  in 


108  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

revivals  at  home,  were  very  much  blessed.     I  remem- 
ber them  during  the  revival  in  B ,  where  I  was 

brought  up.  One  of  the  ministers  preached  at  one 
service,  and  the  other  followed  with  an  address.  In 
the  next,  the  order  was  reversed;  and  this  was  the 
usual  way  at  those  meetings.  Besides  the  two  regu- 
lar services  on  the  Sabbath,  there  were  prayer-meet- 
ings in  the  evening,  (conferences  they  were  then  call- 
ed,) which  the  pastors  generally  attended,  aided  by 
some  of  the  lay  brethren.  One  week-day  lecture 
was  preached,  sometimes  two,  and  evening  meetings 
were  held  at  the  school-houses,  more  or  less,  in  the 
out  districts  of  the  congregation.  Taken  altogether, 
I  think  there  were  not  so  many  extra  meetings  as 
are  common  now  in  powerful  revivals.  Perhaps  there 
f  were  not  enough.  Though  I  am  not  sure.  Christians 
may  be  so  much  abroad  as  to  leave  but  little  time 
for  home  duties  in  the  family  and  the  closet.  Is  not 
this  sometimes  the  case?  I  think  it  is.  It  is  easier 
to  sit  and  listen  and  enjoy  the  social  meeting,  than  to 
keep  the  heart  in  a  humble  and  devout  frame  for 
secret  prayer ;  and  I  am  afraid  too  many  Christians 
are  ready  to  excuse  themselves  for  want  of  punctuali- 
ty in  the  latter,  by  thinking  that  they  make  it  up  and 
more  by  going  to  all  the  meetings.  And  this  leads 
me  to  ask,  Is  there  not  more  time  spent  in  secret 
wrestling  with  the  Angel  of  the  covenant  in  the  earlier 
stages  of  revivals,  than  in  the  later?  and  if  so,  may 
not  this  neglect  be  one  principal  reason  why  many  of 
these  precious  seasons  are  of  such  short  continuance? 
The  ministers  of  that  day  held  no  four-days\  or 
other  protracted  meetings.     They  depended  much  on 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  109 

the  preaching  of  the  word  upon  the  Sabbath,  for  the 
awakening  of  sinners;  and  I  believe  this  divinely 
appointed  means  was  more  owned  and  blessed  than 
perhaps  all  the  auxiliary  services  put  together,  impor- 
tant and  helpful  as  they  undoubtedly  were. 

Those  pastors  had  no  seats  set  apart  for  the  awa- 
kened, nor  did  they  call  upon  any  who  wished  for 
special  prayer  to  signify  it  by  rising  in  the  meetings. 
Much  as  they  rejoiced  when  many  were  turned  to  the 
Lord,  they  never,  I  believe,  urged  young  converts  to 
come  forward  and  take  part,  till  they  had  had  some 
time  to  examine  the  foundation  of  their  hopes  ;  think- 
ing it  safer  than  the  haste  and  urgency  which  arc 
sometimes  employed.  There  is  doubtless  such  a  thing 
as  keeping  back  converts  so  long,  that  through  diffi- 
dence they  may  be  unwilling  to  pray  and  exhort  when 
their  assistance  in  the  prayer-meetings  would  be  very 
acceptable  and  edifying.  This,  as  well  as  the  oppo- 
site extreme,  should  be  guarded  against.  Pastors 
want  all  the  good  lay  help  they  can  get,  and  every 
genuine  revival  brings  some  men  into  the  church  who 
may  be  trained  up  for  these  auxiliary  services. 

Before  presenting  from  laborers  in  these  revivals 
more  minute  and  detailed  testimonies  to  their  char- 
acter and  results,  I  am  sure  I  shall  gratify  many  by 
drawing  from  the  eloquent  public  discourses  of  Dr. 
Edward  D.  Griffin,  an  expression  of  his  views  of  this 
great  work  of  God,  *the  influence  of  which  so  distinct- 
ly characterized  the  whole  of  his  brilliant  career,  and 
in  which  he  was  himself  one  of  the  earliest  con- 
verts. 


110  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

Graduating  at  Yale  college  in  1790,  at  the  age 
of  twenty,  the  next  year  he  was  taken  sick,  brought 
to  reflection,  and  led  to  consecrate  himself  to  Christ 
and  the  ministry.  He  studied  theology  with  the 
younger  President  Edwards,  was  licensed,  and  in  1792 
found  himself  at  his  father's  house  in  East  Haddam, 
Connecticut,  "  the  only  professor  of  religion  in  a  fam- 
ily of  ten."  He  labored  for  their  salvation ;  attended 
a  prayer-meeting  in  the  neighborhood  ;  and  in  Novem- 
ber, while  one  of  his  sisters  "  was  weeping  in  anguish 
of  spirit,"  he  was  making  his  appeals  to  those  around 
him.  "  That,"  said  he,  "  was  the  beginning  of  Amer- 
ican revivals  so  far  as  they  fell  under  my  personal 
observation,  and  from  that  moment  I  know  they  have 
never  ceased."  In  January  he  commenced  preach- 
ing in  New  Salem,  a  neighboring  village,  where  his 
labors  were  blessed  in  "  a  revival  of  great  power,  and 
a  church  was  gathered  where  there  had  not  been  one 
for  more  than  forty  years,"  and  there  and  in  the  vicin- 
ity "  about  one  hundred  were  hopefully  added  to  the 
Lord."  Speaking  of  this  period,  he  says,  "  I  had  an 
opportunity  to  see  the  whole  field  of  death  before  a 
bojie  began  to  move.  And  no  one  who  comes  upon  the 
stage  forty  years  afterwards,  can  have  any  idea  of  the 
state  of  things  at  that  time."* 

*  Dr.  Griffin,  in  a  note  at  a  later  period,  states  that  long 
before  the  death  of  Whitefield  in  1770,  extensive  revivals  in 
America  had  ceased  ;  and  that  revivals  had  been  reported  to 
him  in  Stockbridge  and  other  2:)arts  of  Berkshire  county  in 
1772,  in  a  part  of  Lyme  about  1780,  and  in  several  towns  in 
Litchfield  county  about  1783.  Notices  have  also  appeared  of 
revivals  in  Princeton  college,  under  Dr.  Witherspoon,  in  1771, 
1772 :  in  connection  with  the  labors  of  Dr.  McWhorter  in  New- 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  Ill 

In  closing  Ms  sermon  preached  before  the  Ameri- 
can Board  for  Foreign  Missions,  at  Middletown,  Con- 
necticut, in  1826,  he  thus  celebrates  the  grace  of  God 
in  this  revival  epoch : 

"  For  many  years  the  Christian  world  had  been 
sunk  in  a  profound  slumber  in  regard  to  the  duty  of 
giving  the  gospel  to  the  heathen  ;  but  for  the  last 
four  and  thirty  years  they  have  been  waking  up.  He 
who  has  engraven  Zion  on  the  palms  of  his  hands — • 
who  never  wants  means  to  fulfil  his  promises — has 
sent  his  heavenly  influence  to  rouse  the  Christian 
world.  He  beheld  the  desolations  of  Zion,  and  has 
come  to  rebuild  her  ruined  walls.  He  heard  the 
groans  of  his  people  as,  with  harps  on  the  willows, 
they  were  weeping  '  by  the  rivers  of  Babylon,'  and 
has  come  to  bring  them  again  '  to  Zion  with  songs 
and  everlasting  joy  upon  their  heads.'  Eternal  thanks 
to  God  for  what  our  eyes  have  seen  and  our  ears  have 
heard  for  the  last  four  and  thirty  years.     Eternal 

ark,  1772;   of  Dr.  McMillan  in  Western  Pennsylvania,  1781- 
1794 ;  of  Rev.  Mr.  Caldwell  in  Elizabethtown  in  1772,  and  an- 
other in  the  same  town  in  1784;  Dr.  Burton  in  Thetford,  Ver- 
mont, and  Rev.  Dr.  Shepard,  Brentwood,  New  Hampshire,  in 
1781 ;  Dr.  Wood  in  Boscawen,  New  Hampshire,  1782 ;  Rev.  Mr. 
Hallock  in  West  Simsburj,  1783;  Dr.  Smalley,  Berlin,  Conn.,  ^}  n./ 
Dr.  Emmons  in  Franklin,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Sanford,  Medway,  Mass^   ^^^^ 
in  1784 ;  Rev.  Mr.  Waddel  and  Rev.  Mr.  Marshall  in  various  ^ 
parts  of  Georgia,  1784-1788 ;  Dr.  Buell  in  East  Hampton,  Long  ^^^^!^ 
Island,  1785 ;  Rev.  Dr.  Baldwin,  Boston,  and  Rev.  Moses  Hal-     ^^^ 
lock,  Plainfield,  Massachusetts,  1790;  and  there  were  doubt- 
less others,  notwithstanding  the  pervading  spiritual  dearth. 
The  great  and  general  work  of  which  Dr.  Griffin  speaks  was 
begun  in  Virginia  earher  than  1792,  as  already  intimated  and 
as  appears  in  subsequent  pages. 


112  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

thanks  to  God  for  the  increasing  wonders  which  are 
rapidly  opening  on  the  world.  And  Oh — can  we  re- 
strain the  bursting  emotion? — for  ever  blessed  be  his 
great  and  glorious  name  for  what  we  have  begun  to 
see  in  our  own  land.  It  is  more  than  thirty  years 
since  the  Christians  in  Great  Britain  awoke,  and  they 
have  been  holding  on  their  way  with  increasing  maj- 
esty and  glory,  until  that  little  island  bestows  an- 
nually more  than  a  million  of  dollars  upon  strangers. 
It  is  fourteen  years  since  New  England  broke  her 
slumbers,  and  now  the  mass  of  her  population  seems 
drenched  in  the  missionary  spirit.  I  saw  the  day 
cover  the  plains  of  Europe.  I  saw  the  westward- 
travelling  light  spread  itself  over  these  eastern  states. 
Nine  years  ago  I  saw  the  rays  of  the  morning  tip  our 
Presbyterian  horizon.  I  saw  the  dawn  blush  deeper 
and  deeper.  I  knew  it  would  not  all  return  again  to 
midnight.  I  knew  the  sun  would  rise.  At  length  I 
saw  his  golden  limb  above  the  eastern  woods,  and 
from  the  course  of  day  I  knew  that  soon  the  heavenly 
flood  would  cover  all  the  plains  to  Arkansas  and  the 
Pacific.  Already  the  influence  of  heaven  has  dropt 
upon  the  wilderness,  and  the  yell  of  the  warwhoop 
is  changed  to  notes  of  praise.  We  must  not  stop  till 
every  Indian  tongue  has  joined  the  general  song.  We 
must  not  stop  till  our  influence  has  cheered  the  whole 
extent  of  South  America.  And  then  we  must  go  forth 
to  the  islands,  and  hold  on  our  way  till  we  meet  our 
brethren  in  other  fields,  and  unite  with  them  in  com- 
pleting the  harvest  of  the  world. 

"  We  owe  the  sincerest  gratitude  to  God  for  giv- 
ing us  our  existence  in  such  a  day  as  this.     Many 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  113 

prophets  and  kings  desired  to  see  this  day,  and  saw 
it  not.  One  spirit  has  seized  the  Christian  world  to 
send  the  gospel,  with  a  great  company  of  its  publish- 
ers, to  all  the  nations  of  the  earth.  Missionary  and 
Bible  societies,  those  stupendous  monuments  of  Chris- 
tian charity,  have  risen  so  rapidly  and  in  so  great 
numbers  throughout  Europe  and  America,  that  in 
contemplating  them  we  are  '  like  them  that  dream. ^ 
These  societies  have  already  accomplished  wonders, 
and  are  constantly  stretching  forward  to  future 
achievements  beyond  the  reach  of  imagination.  On 
the  burning  sands  of  Africa,  where  Christian  feet 
never  before  trod,  there  is  the  holy  band  of  mission- 
aries, struggling  amid  dangers  and  deaths,  to  lead  the 
sable  tribes  of  Ethiopia  to  stretch  forth  their  hands 
to  God.  On  the  plains  of  Hindostan,  a  '  consecrated 
host'  are  translating  the  Scriptures  into  more  than 
thirty  different  languages,  spoken  by  a  population 
greater  than  that  of  all  Europe.  On  the  borders  of 
China  they  have  produced  a  version  which  will  give 
the  oracles  of  God  to  one  quarter  of  the  population 
of  the  globe.  In  the  northern  islands  a  nation  is 
born  in  a  day.  From  the  hill  of  Zion,  from  the  top 
of  Calvary,  they  are  freighting  every  caravan  of  pil- 
grims with  Bibles  for  all  the  countries  of  the  east. 
Certainly  the  angel  has  begun  his  flight  through  the 
midst  of  heaven,  '  having  the  everlasting  gospel  to 
preach  to  every  nation,  and  kindred,  and  tongue,  and 
people.' " 

In  his  sermon,  September,  1828,  at  the  dedica- 
tion of  the  new  chapel  at  Williams  college,  of  which 
he  was  then   president.  Dr.   Griffin   gives  a  fuller 


114  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

expression  to   his   views   of  the  influence  of  these 
revivals : 

"  In  turning  to  the  religious  history  of  the  college 
and  its  prospective  connection  with  the  Eedeemer's 
kingdom,  a  subject  opens  upon  us  of  unbounded  in- 
terest. 

"  The  year  1792,  it  has  often  been  said,  ushered 
a  new  era  into  the  world.  In  that  year  the  first 
blood  was  drawn  in  that  mighty  struggle  which  for 
more  than  twenty  years  convulsed  Europe,  and  began 
the  predicted  destruction  of  the  apocalyptic  beast. 
In  that  year  the  first  of  those  institutions  which  mod- 
ern charity  has  planned,  and  which  now  cover  the 
whole  face  of  the  Protestant  world,  arose  in  Eng- 
land."^ And  in  that  year  commenced  that  series  of 
revivals  in  America,  which  has  never  been  inter- 
rupted, night  or  day,  and  which  never  will  be  until 
the  earth  is  full  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord  as  the  waters 
cover  the  sea.  In  pondering  upon  the  destinies  of  this 
college  in  illumined  moments — in  moments  of  intense 
I  interest — it  has  been  no  indifferent  thought,  that  it 
j  arose  into  being  at  that  punctum  of  time;  that  it 
/  opened  upon  the  world  when  those  other  institutions 
began  to  open  which  are  full  of  salvation — when  the 
redemption  of  Africa  commenced  at  Sierra  Leone 
and  St.  Domingo — when  that  moral  change  began 
which  has  swept  from  so  large  a  part  of  New  Eng- 
land its  looseness  of  doctrine  and  laxity  of  discipline, 
and  awakened  an  evangelical  pulse  in  every  vein  of 
the  American  church. 

*  The  Baptist  Missionary  Societ}^  formed  at  Kettering  by 
Andrew  Fuller  and  others. 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  115 

"  It  was  my  happiness  to  be  early  carried  by  the 
providence  of  God  to  Litchfield  county,  Conn.,  and  to  be 
fixed  in  that  scene  where  the  heavenly  influence  was 
to  send  out  its  stronger  radiations  to  diJBferent  parts 
of  the  country ;  where  thrice  twenty  congregations, 
in  contiguous  counties,  were  laid  down  in  one  field 
of  divine  wonders.  There  it  was  my  privilege  to  be  \ 
most  intimately  associated  with  such  men  as  Mills  ' 
and  Gillett  and  Hallock — names  which  will  be  ever  ■ 
dear  to  the  church  on  earth,  and  some  of  which  are 
now  familiar  in  heaven.  Their  voices,  which  I  often 
heard  in  the  silent  groves,  and  in  the  sacred  assem- 
blies which  followed,  and  in  the  many,  many  meet- 
ings from  town  to  town,  have  identified  them  in  my 
mind  with  all  those  precious  revivals  which  opened 
the  dawn  of  a  new  day  upon  our  country. 

"  During  the  first  seven  years  of  the  existence  of 
this  college — in  which  ninety-three  graduated  in  six  \^ 
classes — there  were  but  Jive  professors  of  religion  in  "^ 
the  institution,  exclusive  of  two  who,  seven  months 
before  the  close  of  that  period,  were  brought  into  the 
church  by  the  revivals  in  Litchfield  county.  In  three 
of  those  six  classes  there  was  not  a  single  professor. 
From  the  commencement  in  1798  till  February,  1800, 
there  was  but  one  professor  of  religion  in  college. 

"  The  spring  of  1806  was  made  memorable  by  the 
admission  of  those  two  distinguished  youth,  Goedon 
Hall  and  Samuel  J.  Mills.  Mills  was  the  son  of 
my  early  friend  the  Rev.  Samuel  J.  Mills  of  Tor- 
ringford,  was  known  to  me  from  a  child,  and  received 
his  permanent  impressions  in  one  of  the  most  glorious 
revivals  I  have  ever  seen,  in  1798,  though  he  did 


116  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

not  obtain  relief  till  the  month  of  November,  1801. 
He  at  once  devoted  himself  to  the  cause  of  missions, 
and  with  a  heart  glowing  with  this  desire  entered 
upon  his  course  of  education.  When  he  arrived  in 
this  town  he  found  himself  in  a  revival  of  religion. 
He  could  not  fail  to  catch  the  spirit.  He  had  joined 
a  class  in  which,  to  say  nothing  of  the  living,  there 
were  such  men  as  James  Richards  and  Robert 
Chauncey  Robbins.  The  Spirit  of  God  fell  upon 
the  class.  In  the  Life  of  Mills  it  is  asserted,  on  the 
authority  of  '  one  of  his  most  valued  classmates,' 
that  he  was  much  engaged  before  the  event  and  dur- 
ing its  continuance,  was  more  resorted  to  than  any 
other  by  the  awakened,  and  was  reputed  the  prin- 
cipal instrument.  And  yet  his  modesty,  and  the 
peculiar  structure  of  his  mind  prevented  him  from 
taking  a  conspicuous  part  in  public  meetings. 

"  In  the  course  of  the  summer,  eight  or  ten  of  that 
class  became  subjects  of  the  work,  and  one  or  two 
others,  among  whom  was  Gordon  Hall. 

"'This  revival,'  says  the  author  of  Mills'  Life, 
'was  among  the  most  signal  expressions  of  favor  to 
the  church.'  He  alludes  to  the  well-known  fact,  that 
by  means  of  this  influence  Mills  prevailed  to  diJBfuse 
through  a  circle  of  choice  spirits  that  zeal  for  mis- 
sions which  actuated  his  own  breast.  On  Wednes- 
day afternoons  they  used  to  retire  for  prayer  to  the 
bottom  of  the  valley  south  of  the.  west  college ;  and 
on  Saturday  afternoons,  when  they  had  more  leisure, 
to  the  more  remote  meadow  on  the  bank  of  the  Hoo- 
sack,  and  there,  under  the  haystacks,  those  young 
Elijahs  prayed  into  existence  the  embryo  of  Araer- 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  Ill 

ican  missions.     They  formed  a  society,  unknown  to 
any  but  themselves,  to  make  inquiries  and  to  organize 
plans  for  future  missions.     They  carried  this  society 
with  them  to  Andover,  where  it  has  roused  into  mis- 
sionaries most  that  have  gone  to  the  heathen,  and 
where  it  is  still  exerting  a  powerful  influence  on  the 
interests  of  the  world.     I  have  been  in  situations  to  \^ 
know  that  from  the  counsels  formed  in  that  sacred    , 
conclave,  or  from  the  mind  of  Mills  himself,  arose  the    ; 
American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, the  American  Bible  Society,  the  United  For- 
eign Missionary  Society,  and  the  African  School  un-     i 
der  the  care  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  New     | 
Jersey ;   besides  all  the  impetus  given  to  domestic 
missions,  to  the  Colonization  Society,  and  to  the  gen- 
eral cause  of  benevolence  in  both  hemispheres.     If  I 
had  any  instrumentality  in  originating  any  of  those 
measures,  I  here  publicly  declare,  that  in  every  in- 
stance I  received  the  first  impulse  from  Samuel  John 
Mills." 


118  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 


CHAPTER   Y. 

THE  REVIVAL  EPOCH  ABOUT   1800— 

CONTINUED. 

Having  thus  glanced  at  the  revivals  of  the  period 
now  under  review,  as  I  remember  them,  it  is  time  to 
let  the  ministers  whom  God  honored  as  the  instru- 
ments speak  for  themselves,  and  tell  us  how  far  the 
views  which  I  have  given  correspond  with  their  bet- 
ter means  of  experience  and  observation.  Their  tes- 
timony I  have  taken  where  I  could  find  it,  especially 
from  the  Connecticut  Evangelical  Magazine,  which 
sprung  out  of  those  revivals,  and  which  contains  quite 
the  fullest  record,  I  believe,  that  can  be  found  in  the 
Christian  annals  of  the  day. 

In  making  selections  from  the  materials  within 
my  reach,  I  have  been  obliged  more  or  less  to  abridge 
those  from  which  I  have  most  largely  drawn ;  but  so 
as  to  retain  all  their  essential  features. 

From  Dr.  Qriffin,  New  Hartford,  Conn.  1797-1799. 

"  The  work  of  divine  grace  among  us  three  years 
ago,  by  which  nearly  ffty  persons  were  hopefully 
added  to  the  Lord,  had  not  wholly  ceased,  when  the 
last  scene  of  mercy  and  wonder  commenced. 

"Late  in  October,  1798,  the  people  hearing  of  the 
displays  of  divine  grace  in  West  Simsbury,  were  in- 
creasingly impressed  with  the  information.  Several 
circumstances  conspired  to  increase  our  anxiety.  The 
glorious  work  had  already  begun  in  Torringford,  and 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  119 

the  cloud  appeared  to  be  going  all  around  us.  It 
seemed  as  though  Providence,  by  avoiding  us,  design- 
ed to  bring  to  remembrance  our  past  abuses  of  his 
grace.  Besides,  having  been  so  recently  visited  with 
distinguishing  favors,  we  dared  not  allow  ourselves 
to  expect  a  repetition  of  them  so  soon. 

"  This  was  the  state  of  the  people  when,  on  a  Sab- 
bath in  the  month  of  November,  it  was  the  sovereign 
pleasure  of  the  most  merciful  God  very  sensibly  to 
manifest  himself  in  the  public  assembly.  From  that 
memorable  day,  the  flame  which  had  been  kindling 
in  secret,  broke  out.  By  desire  of  the  people,  relig- 
ious conferences  were  set  up  in  different  parts  of  the 
town,  which  continued  to  be  attended  by  deeply  affect- 
ed crowds,  and  in  which  the  divine  presence  and 
power  were  manifested  to  a  degree  which  had  never 
before  been  witnessed.  It  is  not  meant,  that  they 
were  marked  with  outcries,  distortions  of  the  body, 
or  any  intemperate  zeal ;  but  only  that  the  power  of 
divine  truth  made  deep  impression  on  the  assemblies. 
You  might  often  see  a  congregation  sit  with  deep 
solemnity  depicted  in  their  countenances,  without  ob- 
serving a  tear  or  a  sob  during  the  service.  Most  of 
those  who  were  exercised,  were  often  too  deeply  im- 
pressed to  eat.  Addresses  to  the  passions  were  avoid- 
ed, and  the  aim  was  to  come  at  the  conscience.  Lit- 
tle terror  was  preached  except  what  is  implied  in 
the  doctrines  of  the  entire .  depravity  of  the  carnal 
heart ;  its  enmity  against  God ;  its  deceitful  doubt- 
ings  and  attempts  to  avoid  the  soul-humbling  terms 
of  the  gospel ;  the  radical  defects  of  the  doings  of  the 
unregenerate,  and  the  sovereignty  of  God  in  the  dis- 


120  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

pensations  of  his  grace.  The  more  clearly  these  and 
other  kindred  doctrines  were  displayed  and  under- 
stood, the  more  were  convictions  promoted. 

"  The  order  and  progress  of  these  convictions  were 
pretty  much  as  follows.  The  subjects  of  them  were 
brought  to  feel  that  they  were  transgressors,  yet  not 
totally  sinful.  As  their  convictions  increased,  they 
were  constrained  to  acknowledge  their  destitution  of 
love  to  God,  but  yet  they  thought  they  had  no  enmity 
against  him.  At  length  they  would  come  to  see  that 
such  enmity  filled  their  hearts.  In  the  first  stages  of 
conviction  it  was  not  easy  for  the  subjects  to  realize 
their  desert  of  eternal  death.  But  afterwards,  even 
while  they  gave  decisive  evidence  of  being  still  as  de- 
void of  a  right  temper  as  those  wretches  whose  mouths 
will  be  stopped  by  the  light  of  the  last  day,  their 
conviction  of  this  ill  desert  was  in  many  instances 
very  clear.  Nevertheless,  even  to  the  last,  their  hearts 
would  recoil  at  the  thought  of  being  in  God's  hands, 
and  would  rise  against  him  for  having  reserved  to 
himself  to  decide  whether  to  sanctify  and  pardon 
them  or  not.  Before  conviction  had  become  deep 
and  powerful,  many  attempted  to  exculpate  them- 
selves with  a  plea  of  inability ;  and  like  their  ances- 
tor, to  cast  the  blame  upon  God  by  pleading.  The 
nature  which  he  gave  me,  beguiled  me.  This  was  the 
enemy's  strong-hold.  All  who  were  a  little  more 
thoughtful  than  common,  but  not  thoroughly  convict- 
ed, would  upon  the  first  attack  flee  to  this  refuge. 
They  would  be  glad  to  repent,  they  said,  but  could 
not,  their  nature  and  heart  were  so  bad ;  as  though 
their  nature  and  heart  were  not  they  themselves.    But 


i 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  121 

tte  progress  of  conviction  in  general  soon  removed 
this  refuge  of  lies,  and  filled  them  with  a  sense  of 
utter  inexcusableness.  And  in  every  case,  as  soon  as 
their  enmity  was  slain,  this  plea  wholly  vanished; 
their  language  immediately  became,  '  I  wonder  I  ever 
should  have  asked  the  question,  how  can  I  repent? 
My  only  wonder  now  is,  that  I  could  hold  out  so 
long.'  As  soon  as  the  heart  of  stone  was  taken  away, 
and  the  heart  of  flesh  given,  the  subjects  of  this  happy 
change  exhibited  sentiments  and  feelings  widely  dif- 
ferent from  those  above  described.  They  were  now 
wrapped  up  in  admiration  of  the  laws  and  absolute 
government  of  God,  which  had  been  the  objects  of  so 
much  cavil  and  disgust. 

"  It  would  not  consist  with  the  designed  brevity  of 
this  narration,  nor  yet  perhaps  with  propriety,  to 
detail  all  the  interesting  circumstances  in  the  experi- 
ence of  more  than  a  hundred  persons,  who  have  been 
the  subjects  of  this  work.  It  may,  however,  be  useful 
to  go  so  far  into  particulars  as  to  exhibit  some  of  the 
distinguishing  fruits  of  it.  When  asked  what  was 
the  first  thing  which  composed  their  anxious  minds, 
they  have  sometimes  answered,  '  The  thought  that  I 
was  in  the  hands  of  God.  It  seems  to  me,  that  what- 
ever becomes  of  me,  I  cannot  bear  to  be  out  of  his 
hands.'  They  do  not  found  their  hopes  on  the  sug- 
gestions of  Scripture  passages  to  their  minds,  or 
dreams,  or  seeing  sights,  or  hearing  voices,  or  on 
blind  unaccountable  impulses.  The  Bible  is  to  them 
a  new  book.  Prayer  seems  their  delight.  Their 
hearts  are  peculiarly  united  to  the  people  of  God. 
But  the  most  observable  part  of  their  character  is  a 

Pfv.  '^kpt'^h!*.  6 


122  .  REYIYAL  SKETCHES. 

lovely  appearance  of  humility.  A  sense  of  their  ill- 
desert  abides  and  increases  upon  them,  after  apparent 
renovation;  a  considerable  time  posterior  to  which 
some  have  been  heard  to  say,  'I  never  had  an  idea 
what  a  heart  I  had,  till  this  week.' 

"  It  is  hoped  that  about  fifty  heads  of  families  have 
been  the  subjects  of  this  work,  a  considerable  part 
of  whom  rank  among  the  respectable  and  influential 
characters  in  the  town.  The  power  of  the  almighty 
Spirit  has  prostrated  the  stoutness  of  a  considerable 
number,  who  were  the  last  that  human  expectation 
would  have  fixed  on  to  be  the  subjects  of  such  a 
change.  One  old  man  who  had  not  been  in  our  house 
of  worship,  and  probably  not  in  any  other,  for  more 
than  twenty  years,  has  been  arrested  in  his  retire- 
ment by  the  divine  Spirit,  and  still  remains  like  the 
troubled  sea  when  it  cannot  rest. 

"  It  has  been  a  remarkable  season  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  false  hopes.  Nearly  twenty  of  those  who  have 
lately  appeared  to  build  on  the  rock,  have  been  pluck- 
ed off  from  a  sandy  foundation.  One  had  supposed 
that  she  loved  the  God  of  providence  because  she  had 
some  sense  of  his  daily  kindness  to  her  and  her  fami- 
ly, but  was  brought  to  see  that  she  hated  the  real 
character  of  God  with  all  her  heart.  Another,  accus- 
tomed to  contemplate  moral  truth  in  the  light  of  a 
clear  and  penetrating  intellect,  had  mistaken  the  as- 
sent of  the  understanding  for  the  affections  of  the 
heart. 

"From  observing  the  effects  which  the  light  of 
God's  presence  had  upon  false  hopes,  a  trembling  re- 
flection arose :  How  many  such  hopes  will  be  cha*«!ed 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  123 

away  by  the  opening  light  of  eternity.  The  Lord 
seemed  to  come  to  '  search  Jerusalem  with  candles/ 
and  to  find  out  those  that  were  settled  on  their  lees. 
The  church  felt  the  shock.  That  same  presence  which 
at  Sinai  made  all  the  church,  and  even  Moses,  exceed- 
ingly fear  and  quake,  rendered  this  now  a  time  of 
trembling  with  professors  in  general.  Nevertheless, 
it  was  with  most  of  them  a  season  of  great  quicken- 
ing, and  a  remarkable  day  of  prayer." 

From  Rev.  Jeremiah  Hallock,  of  West  Simsbury,  Conn. 
1798,  1799. 

The  manner  in  which  God  raised  up  some  of  the 
laborers  in  these  revivals  is  worthy  of  devout  acknow- 
ledgment. In  Mr.  Hallock's  youthful  days,  in  a  new 
settlement  of  Western  Massachusetts,  he  says,  "I 
neither  saw  nor  heard  of  awakenings,"  and  "  convic- 
tion, conversion,  and  revivals,  were  terms  with  which 
I  was  unacquainted."  In  1779,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one,  while  at  work  alone,  he  was  "  impressed  with  a 
sense  of  his  dependence  on  God,"  and  "  of  the  sinful- 
ness of  his  heart,"  which  ere  long  "  seemed  so  black 
and  polluted  that  he  could  hardly  avoid  crying  out." 
At  length,  as  he  afterwards  wrote,  "  The  law  of  God 
appeared  just,  I  saw  myself  a  sinner,  and  Christ  and 
the  way  of  salvation  by  him  looked  pleasant.  I 
thought  it  was  a  happiness  to  be  in  the  hands  of 
God,  and  that  I  could  trust  my  all  to  him.  It  still  did 
not  occur  to  me  that  I  had  experienced  a  change  of 
heart."  Soon  after,  as  he  was  called  to  do  military 
duty,  and  he  and  his  fellow-soldiers  had  entered  a 
barn,  he  "found  himself  surrounded  by  his  young 
companions  and  others,  exhorting  them  on  the  subject 


124  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

of  religion,"  "  one  of  whom  was  then  awakened,  and 
afterwards  obtained  hope."  It  was  the  beginning 
of  a  revival ;  meetings  were  appointed,  and  became 
frequent,  full,  and  solemn,  and  as  they  had  no  minis- 
ter, and  Mr.  Hallock  was  the  first  of  the  apparent 
converts,  it  often  devolved  on  him  to  lead  the  meet- 
ings. "  In  looking  over  the  daily  account  I  kept  at 
this  time,"  he  says,  "I  find  that  during  March  and 
April,  1780,  I  attended  meetings  most  of  the  even- 
ings, went  sometimes  as  far  as  six  miles,  and  spoke  in 
them  as  much  as  a  short  sermon,  generally  from  some 
passage  of  Scripture."  In  a  few  months  he  entered 
Dr.  Dwight's  school,  then  at  Northampton,  to  study 
for  the  ministry;  and  in  May,  1783,  went  to  West 
Simsbury  to  study  theology  with  a  minister  of  his 
acquaintance.  Here  he  says,  "  A  revival  of  religion 
began.  I  believe  about  one  hundred  manifested  a 
hope.  Before  it  commenced,  the  church  and  Sabbath 
were  almost  lost ;  now  the  church  was  gathered,  re- 
formed, and  increased."  He  was  abundant  in  labors 
in  this  revival,  attending  and  conducting  religious 
meetings,  and  guiding  inquirers.  For  nearly  two  years 
he  labored  in  other  places  on  which  to  some  extent 
the  blessing  of  the  Spirit  descended,  and  it  was  his 
confirmed  wish  to  spend  his  life  as  an  itinerant  minis- 
ter, but  he  at  length  yielded  to  the  importunity  of  the 
congregation  in  West  Simsbury,  and  was  installed  their 
pastor  in  1785,  continuing  through  life  to  visit  other 
churches  in  revival  seasons,  and  in  1801  and  1807 
making  mission  tours  of  three  months  each  in  Vermont. 
The  years  immediately  succeeding  his  settlement  were 
a  period  of  darkness  in  the  churches  generally.     In 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  125 

1795,  Dr.  Griffin  was  settled  in  the  adjoining  parish 
of  New  Hartford.  They  both  had  tasted  the  blessed- 
ness of  revivals,  and  together  they  mourned  and  wept 
and  wrestled  for  perishing  souls  and  the  languishing 
interests  of  Zion.  One  or  more  of  the  groves  is  still 
pointed  out  where  they,  with  neighboring  pastors,  used 
to  retire  from  the  world  to  agonize  for  the  descent  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  The  day  of  mercy  was  near.  At  length 
the  revival  burst  upon  them,  of  which  Mr  Hallock 
says : 

"  Through  the  course  of  twelve  tedious  years,  be- 
fore this  memorable  period,  the  religion  of  Jesus  grad- 
ually declined  among  us,  the  doctrines  of  Christ  grew 
more  and  more  unpopular,  family  prayer  and  all  the 
duties  of  the  gospel  were  less  regarded,  ungodliness 
prevailed,  and  particularly  modern  infidelity  had 
made  and  was  making  alarming  progress.  Indeed, 
it  seemed  to  an  eye  of  sense,  that  the  Sabbath  would 
be  lost,  and  every  appearance  of  religion  vanish.  But 
the  God  of  Zion,  who  can  do  every  thing,  was  pleased 
to  appear  and  lift  up  the  standard  of  the  omnipotent 
Spirit  against  the  enemy,  and  to  him  be  all  the  glory. 

"  The  first  appearance  of  the  work  was  sudden 
and  unexpected.  The  second  Sabbath  in  October, 
1798,  I  exchanged  with  a  brother  in  the  ministry. 
On  my  return  the  next  evening,  I  found  a  young  per- 
son under  deep  religious  impressions.  The  morning 
following  I  found  two  other  youths  with  the  one  first 
awakened,  whose  minds  were  likewise  impressed.  On 
the  evening  of  this  day  a  sermon  was  preached  by  a 
neighboring  minister.     The  meeting  was  uncommon- 


126  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

ly  full,  and  the  arrows  of  conviction  reached  some 
hearts. 

"  The  next  day  it  was  affecting  to  see  by  the  ris- 
ing of  the  sun,  awakened  youths  coming  to  my  house, 
to  know  what  they  should  do  to  be  saved.  On  the 
ensuing  Sabbath,  the  work  was  visible  in  the  house 
of  God,  and  the  conference  in  the  evening  was  full 
and  very  serious.  The  next  day,  when  a  sermon  was 
preached  by  a  neighboring  minister,  almost  the  whole 
parish  came  to  meeting,  and  the  work  appeared  to  be 
going  on. 

"  Being  called  one  evening  to  visit  a  neighbor  in 
distress  of  mind,  I  received  from  her  the  following 
information:  'I  was  sober  and  thoughtful  when  a 
child,  used  to  attend  secret  prayer,  thought  I  loved 
good  people,  and  finally  concluded  I  was  a  Christian. 
But  hearing  that  the  work  of  God  had  begun  among 
us,  I  thought  it  became  me  to  examine  on  what  foun- 
dation I  stood,  when  I  found  I  was  building  on  the 
sand.  On  Monday  night,  my  hope  perished.'  I  do 
not  know  that  I  ever  saw  any  one  in  bodily  distress 
manifest  greater  anguish.  But  before  morning  she 
found  relief,  by  having,  as  she  hoped,  her  will  bowed 
and  swallowed  up  in  the  will  of  God. 

"The  next  week,  on  Wednesday,  November  1,  a 
sermon  was  preached,  and  there  were  but  half  as 
many  present  as  on  the  week  before,  and  we  were 
greatly  afraid  that  all  was  about  to  decline  and  die. 
This  was  indeed  a  trying  hour.  No  fond  parent  ever 
watched  the  fever  of  his  child  at  the  hour  of  its  crisis 
with  more  anxious  and  interested  feelings,  than  num- 
bers of  God's  praying  friends  watched  the  work  of  the 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  12t 

Spirit  at  this  critical  moment.  The  thoughts  of  its 
going  off  were  more  dreadful  than  the  grave.  It  was 
not  long,  however,  before  it  appeared  that  God  had 
in  very  deed  come  to  carry  on  his  work,  and  the 
hearts  of  Zion's  friends  were  elated  with  fresh  hopes. 
The  solemnity  of  this  season  cannot  be  communicated. 
It  can  be  known  only  by  experience. 

"A  brother  in  the  ministry,  among  whose  people 
the  same  work  had  begun,  told  me  that  he  had  seen 
twenty  in  a  room,  the  most  of  them  mortally  sick, 
and  at  the  point  of  death,  but  that  the  scene  was  not 
so  impressive  as  to  see  a  house  filled  with  souls  in 
distress,  sensible  of  impending  and  eternal  wrath,  and 
their  feet  sinking  in  that  horrible  pit  from  whence 
there  is  no  redemption.  An  awful  silence  reigned, 
unless  when  it  was  broken  by  the  cry,  '  What  shall  I 
do  to  be  saved?'  But  it  was  not  long  before,  as  we 
hope,  one  and  another  were  brought  to  repentance 
and  faith.  To  behold  poor  sinners,  who  were  but 
yesterday  on  the  brink  of  destruction  and  wholly 
unreconciled  to  G-od,  now  brought  to  submit  to  him, 
and  to  hear  them  sing  the  new  song,  entirely  sur- 
passed all  the  victories  of  the  most  famous  kings  and 
generals  of  our  world. 

"  The  work  was  by  no  means  noisy,  but  rational, 
deep,  and  still.  Poor  sinners  began  to  see  that  every 
thing  in  the  Bible  was  true,  that  they  were  wholly 
sinful  and  in  the  hand  of  a  sovereign  God.  The  first 
you  would  know  of  persons  under  awakening  was, 
that  they  would  be  at  all  the  religious  meetings,  and 
manifest  a  silent  and  eager  attention.  What  are 
called  the  hard  sayings,  such  as  the  doctrines  of  total 


128  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

depravity,  election,  and  the  like,  were  well  received. 
Those  who  were  once  angry  when  these  things  were 
preached,  would  cease  to  object  when  thoroughly  con- 
victed, and  rather  smite  on  their  breasts. 

"The  work  was  now  evidently  on  the  increase. 
Conferences  were  set  up  in  every  part  of  the  parish, 
and  every  week,  sometimes  every  day,  would  bring 
the  animating  news  of  some  one  hopefully  converted. 
Indeed,  it  seemed  as  if  it  would  be  impossible  for  any 
thing  to  stand  before  the  power  of  God,  and  that 
every  one  must  bow.  However,  dreadful  experience 
proves,  that  natural  men  are  really  morally  dead : 
they  are  harder  than  rocks,  deafer  than  adders,  and 
more  stubborn  than  the  sturdiest  oaks.  That  which 
will  break  down  the  rocks,  and  tear  up  the  obstinate 
oaks,  will  have  no  effect  on  the  carnal  mind.  As 
this  was  the  work  of  the  omnipotent  Spirit,  so  the 
effects  produced  proclaimed  its  sovereign  and  divine 
Author.  One  was  taken  here,  and  another  there,  and 
often  those  whom  we  should  least  expect. 

"  One  person  gave  me  this  account  of  his  first 
awakening.  'I  was  returning  on  such  an  evening 
from  a  conference,  where  I  had  seen  numbers  under 
concern,  and  heard  others  speak  of  the  love  of  God 
and  of  their  hope  in  Christ.  But  nothing  took  hold 
of  my  mind  until,  as  I  was  on  my  way  home,  these 
words  sounded  in  my  ears :  *  Is  it  nothing  to  you,  all 
ye  that  pass  by?'  These  words  were  fixed  in  his 
mind,  and  he  applied  them  thus :  '  Is  it  nothing  to  me, 
that  my  neighbors  and  those  of  my  age  are  troubled 
about  their  sins,  and  some  hopefully  converted  to 
God  ?    Have  I  not  sins  to  be  troubled  about,  as  well 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  129 

as  they?  And  do  I  not  also  need  conversion?'  A  few 
days  after,  he  hoped  that  he  had  received  a  new  heart 
from  the  ascended  Saviour. 

"  I  have  said  that  before  the  awakening,  modern 
infidelity  had  made  and  was  making  alarming  prog- 
ress among  us.  Some  who  had  been  infidels  for 
years,  are  among  the  hopeful  converts,  and  are  labor- 
ing to  build  up  the  faith  they  once  sought  to  destroy. 
I  heard  one  of  them  say  with  trembling  limbs,  '  I  am 
the  wretch  who  have  murdered  Christ.  I  have  talk- 
ed a  great  deal  against  the  gospel,  but  there  was 
always  something  in  my  heart  which  said  it  was 
true.'  This  poor  man  was  almost  in  despair,  but 
after  a  long  season  of  distress,  he  found  comfort. 

"  At  a  certain  conference  in  which  the  conversa- 
tion turned  on  the  divine  purposes,  the  subject  was 
not  attended  to  now  for  disputation,  but  with  fear 
and  solemnity.  They  did  not  appear  to  be  dry,  unin- 
teresting, disputable  points,  but  divine  realities  calcu- 
lated to  convict  the  sinner  and  refresh  the  saint. 

"  At  the  close  of  the  meeting  a  question  was  ask- 
ed of  this  import :  '  Does  a  person  who  is  truly  seek- 
ing after  God,  feel  afraid  that  any  of  his  purposes 
will  cut  him  off  from  salvation?'  The  question  was 
answered  in  the  negative ;  that  the  divine  purposes 
were  no  more  against  prayer,  than  against  an  atten- 
tion to  common  matters,  and  that  the  only  reason 
why  men  brought  them  against  prayer  was,  their  hav- 
ing no  heart  to  pray. 

"  Thus  I  have  given  some  account  of  the  work  of 
God  among  us.  There  were  but  few  in  the  parish 
who   were  not  in  a  measure  solemn.     Almost  the 


130  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

whole  conversation,  when  people  were  together  in 
intermissions  on  the  Sabbath,  and  on  week-days,  was 
on  religion.  Even  companies  on  training-days  were 
solemn.  The  number  hopefully  born  into  the  king- 
dom of  God  is  between  sixty  and  seventy. 

"  I  might  enlarge,  but  the  time  would  fail.  I  have 
endeavored  to  state  simple  facts  according  to  the 
best  judgment  of  a  fallible  creature,  with  a  mixture 
of  joy  and  fear.  When  I  find  Peter,  an  apostle,  de- 
ceived in  Simon  Magus,  and  hear  him  speaking  of  the 
faith  of  Sylvanus,  using  the  cautious  language,  'A 
faithful  brother  as  I  suppose  f  it  makes  me  tremble  for 
fear  how  we  shall  hold  out.  I  desire  to  be  thankful 
to  God,  that  he  has  allowed  me  to  stand  and  behold 
his  glorious  work,  though  I  never  felt  so  useless  since 
I  entered  the  ministry.  God  hath  wrought,  and  to  his 
name  be  all  the  glory." 

From  Rev.  Alvan  Hyde,  D.  D.,  Lee,  Mass.     1792. 

It  will  be  observed,  that  the  revival  here  record- 
ed preceded  by  about  six  years  the  distinguished  out- 
pouring of  the  Spirit  on  many  churches,  in  1798  and 
1799.  In  a  letter  to  Dr.  Sprague  of  Albany,  pub- 
lished in  the  Appendix  to  his  Lectures  on  Revivals, 
Dr.  Hyde  says : 

"  The  first  season  of  '  refreshing  from  the  presence 
of  the  Lord,'  which  this  people  enjoyed,  commenced 
in  June,  1792,  a  few  days  after  the  event  of  my  ordi- 
nation. There  was  at  this  time  no  religious  excite- 
ment in  this  region  of  country,  nor  had  I  knowledge 
of  there  being  a  special  work  of  God's  grace  in  any 
part  of  the  land.    The  church  here  was  small  and 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  131 

feeble,  having  only  twenty-one  male  members.  It 
was,  however,  a  little  praying  band,  and  they  were 
often  together,  like  the  primitive  Christians,  continu- 
ing with  one  accord  in  prayer.  Immediately  on  being 
stationed  here  as  a  watchman,  I  instituted  a  weekly 
religious  conference,  to  be  holden  on  each  Wednes- 
day, and  in  succession,  at  the  various  school-houses  in 
the  town.  These  were  well  attended  in  every  dis- 
trict, and  furnished  me  with  favorable  opportunities 
to  instruct  the  people,  and  to  present  the  truths  of 
the  gospel  to  the  old  and  young  in  the  most  plain  and 
familiar  manner.  This  weekly  meeting  has  been  sus- 
tained to  the  present  time,  without  losing  any  of  its 
interest ;  and  when  I  have  been  at  home,  has  carried 
me  around  the  town  as  regularly  as  the  weeks  have 
returned. 

'•'  With  a  view  to  form  a  still  more  particular  ac- 
quaintance with  the  people  committed  to  my  charge, 
I  early  began  to  make  family  visits  in  different  sec- 
tions of  the  town.  These  visits,  of  which  I  made  a 
number  in  the  course  of  a  week,  were  improved  whol- 
ly in  conversing  on  the  great  subject  of  religion,  and 
in  obtaining,  with  as  much  correctness  as  I  could,  a 
knowledge  of  their  spiritual  state,  that  my  instruc- 
tions on  the  Sabbath,  and  at  the  weekly  meetings, 
might  be  better  adapted  to  their  case.  This  people 
had  been  for  nine  years  without  a  pastor,  and  were 
unhappily  divided  in  their  religious  opinions.  And 
as  they  had  been  in  the  habit  of  maintaining  warm 
disputes  with  each  other  on  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible, 
I  calculated  on  having  to  encounter  many  trials.  Con- 
trary to  my  expectations,  I  found,  on  my  first  visits, 


132  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

many  persons  of  different  ages  under  serious  and 
very  deep  impressions,  each  one  supposing  his  own 
burdens  and  distresses  of  mind,  on  account  of  his 
sins,  to  be  singular,  not  having  the  least  knowledge 
that  any  others  were  awakened.  It  was  evident  that 
the  Lord  had  come  into  the  midst  of  us  in  the  great- 
ness of  his  power,  producing  here  and  there,  and 
among  the  young  and  old,  deep  conviction  of  sin.  And 
yet  it  was  a  still  small  voice.  A  marvellous  work 
was  begun,  and  it  bore  the  most  decisive  marks  of 
being  God^s  work.  So  great  was  the  excitement, 
though  not  yet  known  abroad,  that  into  whatever 
section  of  the  town  I  now  went,  the  people  in  that 
immediate  neighborhood  would  leave  their  worldly 
employments  at  any  hour  of  the  day,  and  soon  fill  a 
large  room.  Before  I  was  aware,  and  without  any 
previous  appointment,  I  found  myself,  on  these  occa- 
sions, in  the  midst  of  a  solemn  and  anxious  assembly. 
Many  were  in  tears,  and  bowed  down  under  the 
weight  of  their  sins,  and  some  began  to  rejoice  in 
hope.  These  seasons  were  spent  in  prayer  and  ex- 
hortation, and  in  conversing  with  the  anxious,  and 
with  such  as  had  found  relief  by  submitting  them- 
selves to  God,  adapting  my  instruction  to ,  their  re- 
spective cases.  This  was  done  in  the  hearing  of  all 
who  were  present.  Being  then  a  youth,  who  had 
seen  but  twenty-four  years,  and  inexperienced,  I  felt 
weak  indeed,  and  was  often  ready  to  sink  under  this 
vast  weight  of  responsibility.  But  the  Lord  carried 
me  along  from  one  interesting  scene  to  another.  I 
was  governed  in  my  movements  by  what  appeared  to 
me  to  be  the  exigencies  of  the  people. 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  133 

"As  yet  there  had  been  no  public  religious  meet- 
ing, except  on  the  Sabbath.  A  weekly  lecture  at 
the  meeting-house  was  now  appointed  on  Thursday; 
and  though  it  was  in  the  most  busy  season  of  the 
year,  the  house  was  filled.  This  lecture  was  con- 
tinued for  more  than  six  months,  without  any  abate- 
ment of  attention ;  in  sustaining  which,  I  was  aided 
by  neighboring  ministers,  and  by  numbers  from  a  dis- 
tance, who  came  to  witness  this  display  of  sovereign 
grace.  The  former  disputes  of  the  people  respecting 
religious  sentiments,  in  a  great  measure,  subsided, 
their  consciences  seeming  to  testify  in  favor  of  the 
truth.  The  work  spread  into  every  part  of  the  town, 
and  was  especially  powerful  among  those  who  had 
taken  their  stand  in  opposition  to  the  small  church, 
and  the  distinguishing  doctrines  of  grace.  Many  of 
this  class  were  convinced  that  they  had  always  lived 
in  error  and  darkness,  and  in  a  state  of  total  aliena- 
tion from  God.  They  were  compelled,  notwithstand- 
ing their  former  hatred  of  the  prominent  truths  of 
the  gospel,  to  make  the  interesting  inquiry.  What 
shall  we  do  to  be  saved  ? 

"The  truths  which  I  exhibited  in  my  public  dis- 
courses, and  in  the  many  meetings  between  the  Sab- 
baths, were  in  substance  the  following :  the  holiness 
and  immutability  of  God,  the  purity  and  perfection 
of  his  law ;  the  entire  depravity  of  the  heart,  consist- 
ing in  voluntary  opposition  to  God  and  holiness ;  the 
fulness  and  all-sufficiency  of  the  atonement  made  by 
Christ;  the  freeness  of  the  offer  of  pardon,  made  to 
all  on  condition  of  repentance ;  the  necessity  of  a 
change  of  heart  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  arising  from  the 


134  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

deep-rooted  depravity  of  men,  which  no  created  arm 
could  remove;  the  utter  inexcusableness  of  sinners 
in  rejecting  the  kind  overtures  of  mercy,  as  they  acted 
freely  and  voluntarily  in  doing  it ;  and  the  duty  and 
resonableness  of  immediate  submission  to  God.  These 
are  some  of  the  truths  which  God  appeared  to  own 
and  bless,  and  which,  through  the  agency  of  the  Spir- 
it, were  made  '  quick  and  powerful,  and  sharper  than 
any  two-edged  sword.' 

"All  our  religious  meetings  were  very  much 
thronged,  and  yet  were  never  noisy  or  irregular,  nor 
continued  to  a  late  hour.  They  were  characterized 
with  a  stillness  and  solemnity  which,  I  believe,  have 
rarely  been  witnessed.  The  converts  appeared  to 
renounce  all  dependence  on  their  own  doings,  feeling 
themselves  entirely  destitute  of  righteousness,  and 
that  all  their  hope  of  salvation  was  in  the  mere  mer- 
cy of  God  in  Christ,  to  whom  they  were  willing  to 
be  eternal  debtors. 

"To  the  praise  of  sovereign  grace,  I  may  add  that 
the  work  continued  with  great  regularity,  and  little 
abatement,  nearly  eighteen  months.  In  this  time,  as 
appears  from  the  records  of  the  church,  one  hundred 
and  ten  persons  of  different  ages  united  themselves 
unto  the  Lord  and  his  covenant  people.  All  these 
were  examined  in  the  presence  of  the  church,  and 
were  received  on  the  ground  of  their  professing  to 
have  experienced  a  change  of  heart,  and  to  have 
passed  from  death  unto  life.  They  appeared  to  ex- 
hibit the  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  and  to  exemplify  the 
religion  of  Jesus  in  their  subsequent  lives.  The  in- 
stances of  apostasy  have  been  but  few.    Many  of  them 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  135 

have  finished  their  course,  and  entered  into  the  joy 
of  their  Lord.  They  gave  evidence  of  enduring  to 
the  end,  and  of  departing  this  life  in  the  triumphs  of 
faith.  Others  remain  to  this  day,  'burning  and  shin- 
ing lights '  in  the  church,  some  in  this  town,  and  some 
in  the  new  settlements. 

"This  revival  of  religion  produced  a  surprising 
change  in  the  religious  sentiments  and  feelings  of  the 
people,  and  in  the  general  aspect  of  the  town.  It 
effected  a  happy  union ;  a  union  which,  to  an  unusual 
extent,  has  continued  to  the  present  time.  After  the 
shower  of  grace  had  passed  over,  divine  influences 
were  not  altogether  withholden,  nor  did  the  people 
lose  their  relish  for  religious  meetings.  Insulated 
conversions  to  the  cross  and  standard  of  the  Redeem- 
er, strongly  marked  as  being  genuine,  frequently 
occurred.  In  the  six  following  years,  forty-two  were 
added  to  the  church,  including  some  who  came  from 
other  churches." 

From  K,ev.  Ammi  E,.  Robbins  of  Norfolk,  Conn. 

"It  pleased  the  blessed  God,  in  the  year  1767,  to 
afford  some  special  tokens  of  his  gracious  presence  to 
the  peculiar  joy  of  the  precious  few  who  loved  Zion, 
and  prayed  for  her  prosperity.  The  influences  of  the 
Spirit  seemed  to  be  shed  down  in  a  remarkable  man- 
ner. Many  were  struck  with  surprise,  and  numbers 
were  impressed  with  a  sense  of  their  guilty  and  ru- 
ined state  as  sinners,  and  began  to  cry  out,  What 
must  we  do  to  be  saved?  But  alas,  it  was  of  short 
continuance,  as  to  its  power  and  abiding  influence. 
About  ten  or  twelve  joined  themselves  unto  the  Lord. 

"A  second  revival,  if  it  may  be  so  called,  began 


136  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

in  May,  1783,  when  some  of  God's  people  had  been 
remarkably  stirred  up  to  pray  for  the  outpouring  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  Numbers  were  impressed  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  town,  without  any  knowledge  of  each 
other's  circumstances.  The  seriousness  became  gen- 
eral, and  the  distress  of  many  visible.  As  the  fruits 
of  this  glorious  work,  there  were  added  to  the  church 
in  November  twenty-seven,  in  January  thirteen,  and 
in  March  ten,  making  in  all  fifty :  eighteen  males, 
and  thirty-two  females. 

"In  January,  1799,  there  were  indications  of  a 
third  revival.  Our  assemblies  were  more  solemn  and 
attentive.  The  religious  people  about  this  time  hear- 
ing of  some  revivals  in  two  or  three  other  towns  in 
the  vicinity,  were  induced  to  hope  and  ardently  pray 
that  we  might  have  a  gracious  visit  also.  In  Febru- 
ary and  March  the  attention  became  so  general,  that 
it  was  thought  proper,  at  the  desire  of  many,  that 
religious  conferences  should  be  set  up.  They  accord- 
ingly were  in  four,  and  sometimes  five  different  parts 
of  the  town.  A  public  lecture  was  also  appointed  to 
be  preached  every  Thursday.  Ministers  from  abroad 
generally  preached  on  these  occasions,  and  they  were 
undoubtedly,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  the  means  of 
promoting  the  work.  Very  early  there  were  several 
persons  who  were  struck  with  the  sense  of  their  mis- 
erable state  and  condition  as  sinners.  They  were 
influential  and  very  popular  men  in  town,  and  of  very 
considerable  information.  They  were,  before  this, 
very  far  from  all  appearance  of  religion,  much  inclin- 
ed to,  and  some  far  advanced  in  deistical  sentiments, 
and  those  of  the  Universalists.     These  being  hope- 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  137 

fully  subdued  by  an  omnipotent  arm,  and  becoming 
meek  and  humble  in  their  deportment,  gave  a  prodig- 
ious shock  to  others,  especially  their  intimates.  And 
they  soon  joined  heart  and  hand  to  promote  the  work 
by  conversing  with  others,  attending  and  assisting  at 
conferences ;  and  conducting  with  modesty,  humility, 
and  prudence,  they  were  used  as  happy  instruments 
of  promoting  and  spreading  the  revival. 

"In  June  and  July,  the  marvellous  displays  of 
divine  power  and  grace  were  conspicuous  beyond  any 
thing  of  the  kind  we  had  ever  witnessed.  A  univer- 
sal solemnity  spread  over  the  town,  and  seized  the 
minds  of  almost  all,  both  old  and  young.  Great  num- 
bers were  bowed  with  a  sense  of  the  presence  of  the 
Lord.  Some  rejoicing  and  praising  God,  others  cry- 
ing out  in  anguish  of  soul,  '  What  must  we  do  ?'  Yet 
they  were  by  no  means  noisy  or  boisterous,  but  were 
cut  to  the  heart  in  silent  distress.  Almost  every  day 
we  heard  of  one  or  more  who  had  found  relief,  and 
new  instances  of  persons  impressed  with  a  sense  of 
their  guilty,  wretched,  and  undone  state.  Some  ap- 
peared almost  on  the  borders  of  despair,  while  others 
were  complaining  of  a  hard  and  obstinate  heart,  and 
that  there  could  be  no  sinner  on  this  side  of  hell  so 
vile  as  they.  As  the  fruit  of  this  revival,  fifty-nine 
males,  and  ninety-four  females  have  been  added  to 
the  church.  Others,  several  others,  entertained  hopes, 
and  we  trust  will  come  in  hereafter. 

"Having  given  this  brief  sketch,  I  hope  some  re- 
marks may  be  useful  to  comfort  God's  people,  and  to 
animate  them  in  praying  and  laboring  for  the  promo- 
tion of  Christ's  kingdom. 


138  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

"1.  It  is  of  unspeakable  importance  that  the  means 
of  grace  be  used  with  impenitent  sinners.  Jericho's 
walls  must  tumble  down  on  the  blowing  of  the  ram's 
horns.  Naaman  must  wash  seven  times  in  Jordan, 
that  he  may  be  cured  of  his  leprosy. 

"2.  Those  doctrines  which  the  world  call  hard 
sayings,  are  the  most  powerful  means  in  the  hands  of 
the  blessed  Spirit  to  pull  down  and  destroy  Satan's 
strong-holds  in  the  hearts  of  sinners.  No  preaching 
and  conversation  seems  so  effectual  to  drive  them 
from  their  hiding  places  and  refuges  of  lies,  as  to  tell 
them  plainly,  that  they  are  eternally  undone  if  the 
mercy  of  God  is  not  displayed  in  their  favor ;  that 
they  have  not  the  least  claim  on  him,  and  if  he  does 
not  have  mercy,  they  are  gone  for  ever;  that  they 
may  as  well  despair  of  helping  themselves  first  as 
last,  and  that  the  reason  why  they  do  not  find  relief, 
is  merely  because  they  will  not  yield,  and  bow  to  a 
holy  sovereign  God. 

"3.  When  the  subjects  of  this  work  were  hopeful- 
ly renewed,  they  were  not  usually  sensible  of  it  at 
the  time :  many  of  them  not  till  days  afterwards. 
They  perceived  indeed  an  alteration  in  their  feelings 
and  views,  but  did  not  entertain  a  thought  that  it 
was  conversion.  More  generally  they  feared  that 
God  had  left  them,  and  that  they  had  lost  their  con- 
victions. They  had  agreed  in  this,  that  it  would  be 
just  in  God  to  cast  them  off,  whatever  he  should  do 
with  others. 

"  One  man,  nearly  fifty  years  of  age,  who  has  been 
a  member  of  the  church  for  many  years,  more  than  a 
year  ago  gave  up  his  hope  entirely — concluded  there 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  139 

was  no  hope,  no  mercy  for  him — dared  not  come  to 
the  Lord's  table,  and  was  often  filled  with  such  agony 
that  he  could  hardly  attend  to  the  concerns  of  his 
family.  Now  it  is  hoped  that  his  captivity  is  turned. 
"  Oh,  let  all  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and 
his  cause,  join  as  he  has  taught  us,  and  with  unceas- 
ing importunity,  devoutly  and  humbly  pray,  'Thy 
kingdom  come ;  thy  will  be  done  on  earth,  as  it  is  in 
heaven.' " 

From  Rev.  Timothy  M.  Cooley,  D.  D.,  Granville,  Mass. 
1798,  1799. 

"  For  a  few  months  previous  to  the  late  revival,  it 
was  a  time  of  great  stupidity.  Our  youth  had  become 
much  addicted  to  sinful  diversions.  In  one  of  their 
scenes  of  amusement,  God  was  pleased  to  frown  upon 
them  in  a  very  awful  manner.  Two  young  men  were 
seized  violently  ill,  and  carried  out  of  the  ball-cham- 
ber. A  young  woman,  in  consequence  of  a  cold  which 
she  took  on  the  same  evening,  was  in  a  very  short 
time  taken  with  a  fever  and  delirium,  and  brought  to 
the  brink  of  the  grave.  One  of  the  young  men,  after 
a  short  illness,  died.  Being  told  by  his  weeping  moth- 
er that  he  was  dying,  he  replied  with  his  expiring 
breath,  '  Oh,  I  cannot  die,  I  am  unprepared.'  These 
alarming  dispensations  of  divine  Providence  rendered 
the  minds  of  the  young  people  solemn,  and  gave  a 
check  to  their  sinful  pleasures. 

"In  the  spring  of  the  year  1798,  professors  were 
much  awakened  and  ardently  desired  a  revival  of 
religion.  I  invited  a  number  of  the  youth  into  my 
study,  and  urged  upon  them  the  necessity  of  the  one 
tiling  needful.    This  was  a  very  solemn  meeting,  and 


140  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

will  probably  be  long  remembered  by  some  who  were 
present. 

"  On  the  second  Sabbath  in  June,  a  very  plain 
sermon  was  preached  from  Ezek.  37  : 3,  which  was 
blessed  to  the  awakening  of  a  number  of  sinners.  On 
Tuesday  of  the  next  week  a  number  of  young  people 
met  for  a  civil  visit,  and  the  violin  was  introduced, 
which  instead  of  producing  the  usual  hilarity,  occa- 
sioned a  flood  of  tears.  The  work  of  the  Spirit,  which 
had  been  for  several  days  concealed,  now  burst  forth. 
It  was  found  that  numbers  had  for  some  time  felt  a 
very  serious  concern  for  their  future  well-being,  and 
thought  they  were  alone  in  it,  being  ignorant  of  the 
feelings  and  resolutions  of  others.  The  glorious  work 
spread  with  surprising  rapidity  through  the  parish. 
Christians  were  animated,  sinners  were  awakened, 
and  scoffers  were  struck  silent  at  the  powerful  work 
of  the  Almighty.  It  was  truly  a  remarkable  season, 
and  the  most  aged  had  never  witnessed  the  like  be- 
fore. A  surprising  change  from  apparent  thought- 
lessness to  universal  alarm  took  place  within  two  or 
three  weeks.  The  rapidity  of  the  work  must  be 
ascribed  to  the  all-conquering  influences  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

"  Those  who  were  first  impressed  communicated 
their  feelings  and  resolutions  to  their  relatives  and 
friends  of  a  similar  age,  and  urged  them  to  join  them 
in  living  a  new  life.  These  private  warnings  were 
•the  means  of  spreading  the  work. 

"  Their  views  and  feelings,  while  under  conviction, 
were  as  follows :  They  encouraged  themselves  that  by 
a  few  weeks  of  seriousness  and  diligence  in  duties, 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  141 

they  should  prepare  themselves  for  regeneration. 
After  persevering  a  while,  they  thought  their  prayers 
and  cries  had  been  sufficient  to  prevail  with  God  to 
show  them  mercy.  They  secretly  found  fault  with 
God  for  withholding  his  grace.  The  heart  rose 
against  divine  sovereignty.  Some  thought  hard  of 
God  for  giving  comfort  to  others,  while  he  denied  it 
to  themselves.  Such  exercises  discovered  to  them 
the  total  depravity  of  their  hearts.  They  were  before 
convinced  that  they  had  been  guilty  of  many  outward 
acts  of  sin,  but  now  they  saw  something  of  the  foun- 
tain of  pollution  within.  They  still  persevered  in 
duties,  but  seemed,  as  they  expressed  it,  to  grow 
worse  and  worse.  They  discovered  that  God's  law 
justly  condemned  them,  and  that  they  must  be  rescued 
by  sovereign  mercy,  or  suffer  its  awful  sanction. 

"  The  views  and  exercises  of  those  who  obtained 
hope,  were  as  follows:  There  was  a  great  diversity 
as  to  the  manner  in  which  divine  light  was  let  into 
the  mind,  and  at  the  same  time  a  wonderful  similarity 
in  their  feelings  after  the  admission  of  true  light. 
Some  obtained  relief  by.  a  view  of  the  glory  and 
excellency  of  Christ;  others  were  led  to  see  the 
excellency  of  the  gospel  plan  and  its  fitness  for  sin- 
ners ;  others  felt  a  happy  and  joyful  submission  to 
God  as  a  sovereign,  and  were  willing  to  be  entirely 
in  his  hands.  When  God's  time  had  come  to  show 
mercy,  their  opposition  was  subdued.  They  had  new 
views  of  God,  of  the  Saviour,  of  the  Bible,  and  of 
Christian  people.  Old  things  had  passed  away  ;  be- 
hold, all  things  had  become  new.  They  felt  a  sweet 
calmness  of  mind,  but  in  most  instances  had  not  a 


142  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

thouglit,  at  the  time  of  it,  that  what  they  experienced 
•was  regeneration.  It  was  sometimes  several  days 
before  they  dared  to  hope  they  were  new  creatures. 
They  rejoiced  with  trembling. 

"  The  work  of  the  Spirit  has  been  remarkably  free 
from  enthusiasm  and  confusion.  There  have  been  no 
instances  of  outcries  under  conviction,  nor  of  enthu- 
siastic rants  of  joy  after  receiving  comfort. 

"  This  revival  has  been  productive  of  the  most 
happy  effects.  The  Bible  has  been  studied,  and  the 
distinguishing  doctrines  of  the  gospel  more  thorough- 
ly understood.  God  has  discovered  his  sovereignty 
as  well  as  his  mercy  among  us.  Some  of  the  most 
gay  and  thoughtless  have  been  hopeful  converts,  while 
others  who  are  more  sober  and  moral  are  passed  by. 
In  some  instances  almost  whole  families  fled  to  the 
ark  of  safety.  In  one  I  found  seven  or  eight,  and  in 
others  five  or  six,  who  thought  they  could  rejoice  in 
God.  We  had  the  pleasing  sight  of  four  sisters  off'er- 
ing  themselves  to  unite  with  the  church. 

"  It  is  now  three  years  since  the  beginning  of  this 
glorious  work,  and  I  can  give  a  more  ample  testi- 
mony to  its  genuineness,  than  I  could  have  done 
earlier.  '  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them.'  Those 
who  have  made  a  profession  of  religion,  and  a  num- 
ber of  others  who  have  not  yet,  appear  to  be  stead- 
fast and  unmovable,  and  their  conversation  is  in  a 
good  measure  agreeable  to  the  gospel.  Nearly  one 
half  of  them  are  in  youth.  They  in  general  appear 
to  be  ornaments  to  their  profession,  and  by  their 
presence  at  our  sacramental  table  render  the  com- 
munion-season very  delightful.    '  The  Lord  hath  done 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  143 

great  things  for  us,  whereof  we  are  glad.'     Let  him 
have  all  the  glory." 

From  Rev.  Joseph  Washburn,  Farmington,  Conn. 

"About  the  time  of  my  ordination,  in  May,  1795, 
an  uncommon  attention  and  seriousness  became  ap- 
parent throughout  the  congregation.  The  divine 
influences  came  down  like  the  dew,  and  like  the  rain 
upon  the  mown  grass,  in  still  and  gentle  showers. 
The  work  was  unattended  with  noise  or  enthusiasm ; 
it  caused  a  general  solemnity  through  the  society,  and 
met  with  little  or  no  opposition.  Within  the  course 
of  about  one  year,  fifty-five  persons  were  added  to 
the  church. 

'^In  1798,  God  began  to  appear  in  power  and 
great  glory,  in  a  number  of  towns  in  this  vicinity. 
Accounts  of  these  things  reached  us,  and  became  the 
subject  of  conversation  among  Christians,  but  ap- 
peared to  have  little  or  no  effect. 

"  The  first  appearance  of  special  divine  power  and 
grace  was  in  February,  1799.  It  began  in  an  uncom- 
mon attention  and  concern  among  the  people  of  God, 
and  a  disposition  to  unite  in  prayer  for  the  divine 
presence  and  a  revival  of  religion. 

"  Soon  after  this,  numbers  in  different  parts  of  the 
congregation  began  to  inquire  respecting  the  meet- 
ings, and  expressed  a  wish  to  attend.  Persons  of 
both  sexes  and  of  almost  every  age,  and  many  from 
the  distance  of  four  or  five  miles,  and  some  still  fur- 
ther, were  to  be  seen  passing  through  storms  and 
every  other  obstacle  to  attend  the  meetings.  My 
house  was  also  the  almost  daily  resort  of  youth  and 
others  earnestly  inquiring  respecting  the  things  of 


Ui  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

their  peace.  Those  of  the  youth  who  were  seriously 
impressed,  now  reflected  on  their  former  gayety, 
vanity,  and  sinful  amusements  with  bitterness  and 
entire  disapprobation.  An  attempt  which  was  made 
soon  after  the  awakening  commenced,  to  introduce 
a  dancing-master,  rather  forwarded  than  checked  the 
work  on  the  minds  of  those  who  had  been  brought 
under  serious  impressions.  The  open  opposition  also, 
which  was  made  by  some,  had  a  similar  effect.  It 
convinced  them  more  and  more  that  madness  is  in 
the  heart  of  man,  and  that  God  is  just  in  condemn- 
ing sinners,  and  casting  them  off  for  ever.  Sixty-one 
have  been  admitted  to  the  church  in  a  year,  from 
August,  1799,  to  August,  1800. 

"  In  the  first  stages  of  concern  the  subjects  of  this 
work  were  generally  most  affected  with  particular 
sins,  and  not  so  deeply  sensible  of  the  plague  of  their 
own  hearts.  But  as  their  convictions  increased,  they 
obtained  a  clearer  view  of  the  spiritual  nature  and 
extent  of  the  divine  law,  and  a  more  realizing  sense 
of  the  corruption  of  their  hearts.  Generally,  when 
under  deep  conviction,  they  in  a  greater  or  less  de- 
gree experienced  sensible  enmity  and  opposition  of 
heart  against  the  character  of  God,  particularly  his 
sovereignty  in  having  mercy  on  whom  he  will  have 
mercy.  In  several  instances  God  permitted  the  en- 
mity and  obstinacy  of  the  carnal  heart  to  be  manifest- 
ed in  an  awful  manner,  and  to  an  astonishing  degree. 
While  conscience  like  a  gnawing  worm  preyed  upon 
them  within,  a  view  of  the  divine  character  and  the 
way  of  salvation  proposed  in  the  gospel,  excited  the 
enmity  of  their  hearts,  and  every  instance  in  which 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  145 

they  saw  any  of  their  friends  and  acquaintance  brought 
apparently  to  embrace  the  gospel,  filled  them  with  a 
kind  of  envy,  with  a  pain  which  they  could  not 
describe. 

"  With  respect  to  the  manner  and  circumstances 
in  which  the  hopeful  converts  obtained  relief,  and  the 
degree  of  their  joy  and  peace,  there  has  been  a  variety. 
Some  few  were  very  suddenly  relieved  from  their 
distress,  and  filled  with  adoring  and  admiring  views 
of  God  and  the  divine  Saviour.  But  the  greater  part 
were  brought  gradually  to  entertain  a  hope  that  they 
were  reconciled  to  God.  The  hopeful  converts  in 
general  have  appeared  very  far  from  a  disposition  to 
think  highly  of  themselves  or  their  attainments,  and 
they  were  ready  to  hope  the  best  of  others,  to  pro- 
mote the  good  of  all,  to  discharge  relative  and  social 
duties,  to  attend  carefully  upon  all  the  institutions 
of  religion,  and  to  manifest  a  tender  regard  for  the 
salvation  of  souls  and  the  advancement  of  the  cause 
of  God  in  the  world." 

From  Rev.  Samuel  Shephard,  D.  D.,  Lenox,  Mass.     1799. 

"  I  cannot  learn  from  any  of  the  first  settlers,  that 
there  has  ever  been  any  remarkable  revival  of  relig- 
ion in  this  town,  until  the  month  of  June,  1799.  At 
the  time  of  my  ordination,  in  April,  1795,  almost  all 
the  members  of  the  church  were  bowing  under  the 
infirmities  of  age.  No  person  who  was  then  in  early 
life  belonged  to  it.  Not  a  single  young  person  had 
been  received  into  it  in  the  course  of  sixteen  years. 
Well  might  this  church,  like  God's  ancient  covenant 
people  when  they  sat  in  captivity  by  the  waters  of 
Babylon,  hang  its  harps  upon  the  willows,  for  it  seem- 

Eev.  Sketches,  7 


146  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

ed  indeed  that  when  the  few  who  were  rapidly  has- 
tening down  the  vale  of  years  should  be  removed, 
the  name  of  Jesus  in  the  holy  ordinance  of  the  supper 
would  scarcely  be  had  in  remembrance. 

"Such  were  the  melancholy  prospects  of  this 
church  in  the  spring  of  1799,  while  showers  of  divine 
grace  were  falling  on  other  parts  of  Zion.  But  in 
the  month  of  April,  several  members  of  the  church 
manifested  great  anxiety  about  the  state  of  religion 
among  us,  and  expressed  a  desire  that  meetings  might 
be  appointed  for  religious  conference,  and  special 
prayer  for  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit.  It  was  done, 
and  the  second  meeting  was  unusually  solemn.  At 
the  third,  persons  came  together  from  every  part  of 
the  town.  The  divine  authority  of  the  Scriptures 
was  made  the  subject  of  conversation,  and  the  appear- 
ance of  the  assembly  was  truly  affecting.  Sinners 
were  brought  to  tremble  in  view  of  eternity,  and  pro- 
fessors of  religion  were  animated,  and  rendered  fer- 
vent in  prayer.  From  that  time  the  work  became 
more  general.  There  was  an  increasing  attention 
among  the  young  and  the  old  for  several  months. 

"  On  the  twentieth  of  October,  twenty-four  persons 
were  received  into  the  church.  This  was  with  us  a 
memorable  day.  But  a  small  part  of  the  congrega- 
tion had  ever  before  seen  a  young  person  brought  in. 
The  language  of  the  church  to  the  spectators  of  the 
scene  then  passing  before  them,  was,  *We  are  jour- 
neying to  the  place  of  which  the  Lord  said,  I  will 
give  it  you.  Come  thou  with  us,  and  we  will  do  thee 
good;  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  good  concerning 
Israel,'    The  infidel  and  the  abandoned  man  stood 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  147 

appalled,  and  to  the  friends  of  Zion-  the  season  afford- 
ed a  prelibation  of  heavenly  joys.  The  whole  num- 
ber who  have  been  received  into  the  church  since  the 
work  began,  is  fifty-three.  Almost  two-thirds  are 
females.  I  will  close  this  general  account  with  a 
few  particular  remarks. 

"1.  This  revival  was  evidently  the  work  of  God. 
To  prove  this,  the  very  sudden  change  in  the  appear- 
ance and  pursuits  of  the  people,  is  instead  of  a  thou- 
sand arguments. 

"2.  The  revival  began  in  the  church,  as  I  believe 
is  almost  always  the  case  when  God  pours  out  his 
Spirit. 

"3.  Such  a  revival  strikingly  evinces  the  impor- 
tance of  all  the  means  of  grace  which  God  has  insti- 
tuted. Faith  Cometh  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the 
word  of  God. 

"  4.  The  work  has  been  attended  with  remarkable 
regularity.  God  was  emphatically  in  'the  still  small 
voice.'  No  dreams  and  visions,  no  hearing  unusual 
voices,  and  seeing  uncommon  sights,  no  extravagance 
even  in  gestures  or  outcries,  appeared. 

"5.  Among  those  in  this  town  who  have  been 
awakened  to  attend  to  religious  truth,  a  remarkable 
uniformity  has  occurred  relative  to  the  doctrines 
which  have  been  embraced,  such  as  the  total  and 
awful  depravity  of  the  human  heart,  the  necessity  of 
regeneration  or  a  change  of  heart  as  a  preparation 
for  the  enjoyment  of  a  holy  heaven,  the  equity  of  the 
divine  law  in  its  penalty  as  well  as  precept,  the  di- 
vine sovereignty  in  the  salvation  of  sinners  as  the 
only  possible  ground  of  hope,  the  necessity  of  gospel 


148  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

morality  as  an  evidence  of  justifying  faith,  and  all 
the  doctrines  essentially  connected  with  these,  were 
readily  received  by  all  with  one  consent. 

"  May  a  holy  God,  in  infinite  mercy,  continue  to 
make  manifest  the  glory  of  his  power,  and  the  glory 
of  his  grace  in  building  up  Zion ;  for  in  no  other  way 
can  we  rationally  hope  to  see  happy  individuals,  hap- 
py families,  happy  neighborhoods,  happy  societies, 
happy  towns,  happy  states,  happy  kingdoms,  and  a 
happy  world.'' 

Prom  E-ev.  Alexander  Grillett,  Torrington,  Conn.    1798. 

"  The  first  special  appearance  of  the  work  among 
us,  was  on  Wednesday  evening,  December  26,  1798, 
when  two  lectures  were  preached  by  neighboring 
ministers,  one  in  the  afternoon,  and  the  other  in  the 
evening.  The  friends  of  Zion  present  appeared  to 
receive  a  fresh  anointing  from  the  Lord,  and  to  be 
awakened  to  a  sense  of  their  duty.  Some  sinners  who 
had  labored  heretofore  under  fears  about  their  spirit- 
ual state,  were  more  deeply  and  thoroughly  impress- 
ed, and  brought  to  inquire  in  earnest, '  What  must  we 
do  to  be  saved?'  Thus  the  important  scene  opened, 
which  has  been  truly  wonderful,  and  expressive  of 
divine  power  and  grace. 

"The  work  gradually  increased  from  that  time 
till  May  and  June  ensuing.  A  goodly  number,  we 
charitably  hope,  were  made  the  subjects  of  the  con- 
victing and  transforming  operations  of  the  Spirit  of 
God.  Forty-five  have  come  forward,  and  been  added 
to  the  church:  twenty  young  persons  from  fourteen 
years  and  upward,  nine  males,  and  eleven  females. 
The  proportion  of  the  whole  number  is  seventeen 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  149 

males,  and  twenty-eight  females.  Thirty  more  have 
expressed  a  hope  that  they  have  been  born  again. 

"It  was  wonderful  to  see  what  pains  persons  took 
to  attend  lectures  and  conferences.  They  would  go 
through  storms,  cold,  and  bad  roads,  to  attend  the 
meetings.  The  impression  was  so  great  and  exten- 
sive, and  the  work  so  new  and  unusual,  that  for  a 
time  the  adversary  was  confounded.  Opposers  had 
their  mouths  shut,  and  stood  gazing  and  wondering. 
There  had  been  complaints  heretofore  of  irregulari- 
ties and  enthusiasm,  but  this  work  was  marked  with 
the  '  still  small  voice.'  When  comfort  was  obtained, 
it  did  not  seem  to  arise  from  mere  impressions  on 
the  imagination,  but  from  such  a  view  of  God  and 
divine  things  as  they  never  before  experienced. 

''Previous  to  the  new  birth,  the  subjects  of  the 
work  have  had  clear  convictions  of  the  native  deprav- 
ity of  their  hearts.  Some  have  been  sensible  of  such 
shocking  feelings  as  these :  '  Oh,  how  I  wish  there  was 
no  God,  heaven,  or  hell.  I  would  rather  be  like  the 
beasts  that  perish,  than  be  in  the  hands  of  such  a  God 
as  this!'  After  they  had  experienced  the  great  change, 
they  appeared  to  themselves  to  be  worse  than  before. 
They  would  exclaim,  'I  thought  I  knew  something 
of  my  heart  before,  but  I  knew  nothing  of  it.  How 
can  I  be  a  Christian?  Can  I  be  a  new  creature,  and 
have  my  heart  filled  with  so  many  vain  thoughts  and 
strange  imaginations  V 

"Another  conspicuous  feature  of  the  work  is,  that 
when  God  had  taken  off  a  distressful  burden,  they  at 
first  had  no  suspicions  of  their  hearts  being  renewed. 
They  were  rather  alarmed  at  the  apprehension  that 


150        -'  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

the  Spirit  of  God  had  forsaken  them.  They  were 
ready  to  cry  out,  'I  wish  I  could  feel  as  concerned 
for  myself  as  I  have  done,  but  I  cannot.'  While  in 
this  state,  they  have  been  asked  how  the  character  of 
God  appeared.  They  readily  answered, '  Great,  excel- 
lent, glorious;  there  is  none  like  him.  I  can't  wish 
for  any  other  Saviour  besides  Jesus  Christ,  or  any 
other  way  to  be  saved  but  that  of  the  gospel.' 

"The  doctrines  made  use  of  in  carrying  on  this 
work,  are  another  distinguishing  feature  of  it.  They 
are  the  soul-humbling  doctrines  of  the  cross,  which 
exalt  God,  and  stain  all  the  pride  of  human  glory. 
The  divine  sovereignty,  the  holiness,  extent,  and  in- 
flexibility of  the  moral  law,  human  depravity,  our 
entire  dependence  on  God,  the  special  agency  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  conviction  and  conversion,  and  mere 
grace  through  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Mediator — these 
have  been  kept  constantly  in  view,  and  proved  like 
the  fire  and  the  hammer  that  breaketh  the  flinty  rock 
in  pieces.  It  has  been  common  for  awakened  sinners 
to  think  hard  of  election  and  unconditional  submis- 
sion, and  to  struggle  for  a  while  against  them;  but 
they  were  finally  brought  to  a  thorough  conviction 
that  these  doctrines,  which  were  so  terrible  to  them, 
were  their  only  hope." 

From  E,ev.  Joshua  Williams,  Harwinton,  Conn.     1799. 

"  In  the  latter  part  of  January  and  the  beginning 
of  February,  1799,  our  meetings  for  public  worship 
were  very  full  and  more  solemn  than  I  had  ever  seen 
before.  On  Friday,  in  the  second  week  of  February, 
a  lecture  was  preached ;  the  congregation  was  very 
large,  and  the  effects  of  the  word  were  very  visible. 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  151 

Another  was  preached  in  the  evening,  and  it  is  be- 
lieved that  on  this  and  the  two  succeeding  days  more 
than  a  hundred  persons  were  awakened,  and  many  of 
them  feelingly  convicted  of  their  total  depra\^ty 
of  heart,  and  absolute  helplessness.  It  is  not  in  my 
power  to  describe  the  anxiety  which  appeared  in 
many.  The  more  they  saw  of  themselves,  the  more 
they  were  convinced  of  their  desert  of  endless  misery. 
Sleep  almost  fled  from  their  eyes,  and  when  they  went 
about  the  necessary  concerns  of  life,  their  spirits  were 
loaded  with  sorrow  and  distress.  Danger  appeared 
on  all  sides,  and,  '  What  must  I  do  V  was  a  constant 
and  earnest  inquiry. 

"  Some  were  wrought  upon  very  suddenly,  and  so 
as  to  make  it  evident  that  it  was  not  of  themselves, 
or  of  man,  but  of  God.  From  the  14th  to  the  20th 
of  April,  there  were  eighteen  instances  of  hopeful 
conversion.  Several  were  brought  under  distressing 
conviction  at  midnight  on  their  beds,  and  many  in 
such  circumstances  that  it  could  not  be  accounted  for 
on  any  principle  but  the  sovereign  power  and  mercy 
of  God.  At  this  time  the  labor  of  preaching  was 
easy  indeed,  but  to  detect  the  false  hope  to  which 
many  were  prone,  was  a  difi&cult  and  critical  business. 
Never  did  I  feel  my  own  insufficiency  so  much  as  at 
this  period.  On  the  one  hand  not  to  wound  the 
lambs  of  Christ's  flock,  and  on  the  other  not  to  en- 
courage unfounded  hopes,  required  the  utmost  cau- 
tion and  diligence.  My  usual  practice  was,  if  upon 
examination  I  found  marks  of  a  false  hope,  to  tell 
the  matter  plainly.  But  if  there  were  symptoms 
of  a  well-founded  hope,  I  told  them  they  must  prove 


152  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

it  to  be  genuine  by  their  future  holy  conduct,  always 
remembering  that  the  heart  is  deceitful  above  all 
things.  In  July,  fifty-six  were  added  on  one  Sabbath 
to  the  church ;  in  September,  twenty-four  more,  and 
several  others  at  different  times ;  making  the  whole 
number  one  hundred." 

From  K,ev.  Moses  Hallock,  Plainfield,  Mass.,  to  E.ev.  Jere- 
miah Hallock,  June  3,  1798. 

"I  am  unwilling  to  miss  the  present  opportunity 
to  write  to  you,  especially  as  the  tidings  I  am  about 
to  convey  are  so  glorious.  It  has  been  my  favored 
lot  to  see  several  awakenings,  but  the  present  dis- 
plays of  divine  power  and  grace  far  exceed  what  I 
ever  before  saw.  At  least  fifty  have  been  hopefully 
born  of  God  here  within  a  few  months.  And  be- 
sides these,  several  persons  appear  to  have  obtained 
clear  and  comfortable  evidence  of  their  good  estate, 
who,  till  these  happy  days,  were  in  great  doubt.  The 
church  seems  to  be  greatly  quickened.  There  are  so 
many  demonstrative  proofs  that  the  work  is  the  work 
of  God,  that  next  to  none  pretend  to  gainsay  it.  I 
believe  there  is  not  a  man  in  the  town  that*  openly 
opposes.  None  have  joined  the  church  yet,  but  twen- 
ty-four stand  propounded.  Several  of  these  appeared 
to  be  Christians  before  the  awakening,  but  dared  not 
make  a  public  profession  till  now.  Twenty-two  have 
told  their  experience  in  the  meeting-house — seventeen 
last  Priday,  and  five  to-day — before  a  crowded  and 
solemn  assembly.  They  will  probably  be  received 
on  the  first  Sabbath  of  July,  and  sit  down  with  the 
church  at  the  Lord's  table ;  and  I  expect  that  a  num- 
ber more  will  offer  themselves  before  that  time. 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  153 

"There  are  two  young  men  whose  conviction  has 
been  unusually  long  and  clear,  who  have  received 
comfort  within  these  few  weeks.  At  some  times  they 
almost  appeared  in  despair.  I  heard  one  of  them  say, 
with  trembling  limbs,  '  Oh  the  eternity  of  misery  that 
is  before  meP  For  a  considerable  time  before  they 
hopefully  submitted  to  the  divine  and  sovereign  will, 
they  saw  and  confessed  the  enmity  of  their  hearts  to 
God,  and  how  just  he  would  be  in  sending  them  to 
everlasting  punishment.  They  told  me  that  they  felt 
most  obstinately  opposed  to  the  way  of  life  by  Jesus 
Christ,  and  were  it  not  that  they  believed  in  election 
they  should  be  in  despair.  These  two  are  men  of 
bright  natural  parts  and  considerable  reading,  and 
bid  fair  to  be  pillars  in  the  church  some  future  day. 
These,  with  most  of  the  others  who  have  told  their 
experience,  spoke  of  terrible  opposition  of  heart  to 
God  and  clear  views  of  his  justice  before  regenera- 
tion, and  how  captivated  and  charmed  they  after- 
wards were  both  with  the  divine  justice  and  mercy. 
Let  God  have  all  the  glory." 

From  Rev.  Asahel  Hooker,  G-oshen,  Conn.     1799. 

"  Sundry  persons,  whose  knowledge  of  the  subject 
is  correct,  have  informed  me  that,  previous  to  my 
settlement  in  this  place,  there  never  was  any  remark- 
able and  extensive  revival  of  religion  among  the  peo- 
ple ;  and  since  I  came  here,  almost  nine  years  ago, 
things  have  remained  in  a  most  unpromising  state 
till  about  the  middle  of  February,  1799.  That  period 
was  rendered  memorable  by  the  commencement  of  a 
work,  the  happy  fruits  of  which  are  still  apparent, 
and  which  I  trust  will  be  lasting  as  eternity.     From 


154  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

small  beginnings  it  made  such  progress  in  a  few 
weeks  as  to  have  arrested  general  attention,  while 
great  numbers  were  under  the  most  serious  and  im- 
pressive sense  of  their  forlorn  state  as  sinners.  Pub- 
lic worship  on  the  Sabbath  and  all  other  meetings 
were  unusually  attended,  both  as  to  numbers  and  seri- 
ousness. It  was  not  long  before  several  persons 
manifested  a  hope  of  having  passed  from  death  unto 
life.  In  the  month  of  September,  twenty-five  per- 
sons were  admitted  to  the  church ;  in  November,  forty- 
eight  ;  in  January,  four ;  making,  in  the  whole,  seventy- 
seven.  A  considerable  number  remain  who  exhibit 
the  usual  evidence  of  a  new  heart,  who  have  not 
made  a  public  profession  of  their  faith.  The  change 
which  has  been  wrought  in  many,  is  great  and  won- 
derful. It  is  the  Lord's  doing,  and  marvellous  in  our 
eyes. 

"The  following  brief  statement  will  enable  the 
candid  and  impartial  to  judge  for  themselves  whether 
indeed  it  is  the  Lord's  work. 

"1.  Numbers  were  deeply  impressed  before  they 
knew  that  others  were  in  like  circumstances.  Often 
without  the  intervention  of  any  means  which  could  be 
distinctly  recollected,  the  truth  and  reality  of  eternal 
things  were  brought  home  and  fastened  upon  their 
minds  with  a  sort  of  irresistible  and  impressive 
weight,  pointing  them  to  the  vast  importance  of  flee- 
ing from  the  wrath  to  come. 

"  2.  The  first  impressions  on  the  minds  of  those 
who  were  subjects  of  the  work,  did  not  in  common 
consist  chiefly  of  fears  of  future  punishment.  Their 
deepest  and  most  painful  impressions  arose  from  con- 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  155 

victions  of  sin,  by  which  they  were  at  variance  with 
themselves,  and  by  which  it  was  awfully  realized  to 
them,  that  '  there  is  no  peace  to  the  wicked.'  Those 
who  became  eventually  reconciled  to  the  truth,  and 
found  a  comfortable  hope  of  their  good  estate,  were 
led  to  such  an  acquaintance  with  the  plague  of  their 
own  hearts  as  convinced  them,  that  if  saved  it  must 
be  not  by  righteousness  which  they  had  done  or  could 
do,  but  'by  the  washing  of  regeneration  and  renew- 
ing of  the  Holy  Ghost' 

"3.  It  is  worthy  of  particular  notice  as  a  dis- 
tinguishing feature  of  the  work,  that  the  hopeful  sub- 
jects of  its  saving  effects,  notwithstanding  their  fore- 
going prejudices  and  opposition,  have  come  uniformly 
and  with  one  consent  into  the  great  distinguishing 
doctrines  of  grac€.  These  are  the  doctrines  which 
seem  to  have  been  specially  owned  and  blessed  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  thence  made  tlie  wisdom  of  God  to 
the  salvation  of  sinners. 

"  4.  A  considerable  number  had  been  more  or  less 
immoral  and  irreligious  in  their  visible  conduct. 
Several  who  were  scoffers  at  the  serious  and  uni- 
versal strictness  of  pure  religion,  were  among  the 
hopeful  subjects  of  genuine  conviction  and  of  saving 
mercy.  A  few  who  had  endeavored  to  fortify  them- 
selves against  fears  of  the  wrath  to  come  in  the  belief 
of  universal  salvation,  were  convinced  that  they  had 
made  lies  their  refuge. 

"5.  It  is  not  common  for  those  who  entertain  a 
hope  for  themselves,  to  be  very  confident  of  their  title 
to  salvation.  There  are  few,  if  any,  but  seem  at  times 
to  doubt  whether  their  names  are  written  in  heaven. 


156  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

Whether  all  those  who  appear  to  have  set  out  and  to 
run  well  for  the  present,  will  hold  on  their  way  and 
obtain  the  prize  of  their  high  calling,  must  be  finally- 
known  by  the  event." 

From  Eev.  Ira  Hart,  Waterbnry,  in  Middlebury,  Conn. 
1799,  1800. 

"  This  society  is  but  lately  formed,  and  I  am  the 
first  settled  minister.  While,  when  I  came,  every 
thing  else  appeared  favorable,  the  spirit  and  power 
of  vital  piety  seemed  almost  gone.  Several  cases  of 
discipline  existed  in  the  church,  which  lay  upon  the 
brethren  as  a  heavy  burden.  All  saw  and  acknow- 
ledged the  evil,  and  longed  to  have  it  removed ;  but 
in  the  general  inactivity  and  discouragement,  nothing 
effectual  had  been  done.  The  church  appeared  timid, 
and  some  of  the  enemies  of  the  cross  exulted  and  cast 
reproach.  But  our  sinful  fears  were  not  realized. 
Christ  the  great  Head  of  the  church  caused  the 
sweet  influences  of  his  grace  to  break  forth  when  we 
expected  trouble  and  disunion. 

"  Returning  home  from  some  places  where  there 
were  revivals,  I  was  impressed  with  the  idea  that 
nothing  so  effectually  kept  off  the  divine  blessing  as 
our  neglect  of  those  cases  of  discipline.  The  church 
were  urged  to  proceed  immediately,  and  were  con- 
vinced that  reformation  must  begin  at  the  house  of 
God." 

[He  goes  on  to  show  how  this  movement  was 
blessed  in  bringing  the  church  up  from  its  depression, 
and  awakening  sinners  to  their  danger.] 

"This  interposition  of  God,"  he  says,  "was  too 
striking  to  pass  unnoticed.     It  showed  to  the  church 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  151 

and  to  all,  that  the  way  of  duty  is  the  way  of  safety, 
and  the  way  in  which  divine  blessings  are  usually 
obtained.  The  friends  of  Zion  awoke,  and  their  hearts 
and  mouths  began  to  be  open  on  the  subject  of  relig- 
ion. Cases  of  conviction  soon  occurred  in  different 
parts  of  the  society.  Our  lectures  were  seriously  and 
solemnly  attended.  The  Sabbath  was  a  solemn  day. 
Professors  confessed  with  tears  their  shortcomings 
in  duty.  They  looked  back  with  grief  and  wonder 
upon  themselves,  and  were  melted  down  with  contri' 
tion  before  God.  The  aged  and  the  young  were 
agreed  in  saying,  '  It  was  never  so  seen  in  Israel.' 

"As  several  of  the  first  cases  of  conviction  were 
among  the  youth,  some  of  them  were  opposed  to  it,  as 
calculated  to  destroy  their  amusements.  One  young 
man  began  profanely  to  ridicule  those  who  were  un- 
der distress  of  mind ;  but  as  he  entered  the  gallery 
on  the  Sabbath,  God  met  and  pierced  him  with  a 
sharp  arrow  of  conviction.  He  stumbled  to  a  seat, 
and  amid  the  horrors  of  a  guilty  awakened  con- 
science, sat  trembling  in  view  of  truth  and  the  awful 
iniquity  of  his  heart,  and  soon  after  testified  to  the 
excellency  of  that  Saviour  and  that  religion  which 
he  before  despised.  This  struck  the  young  people  as 
an  admonition  from  heaven.  They  gave  up  their  vain 
amusements,  crowded  to  conferences  and  lectures,  and 
a  goodly  number  of  them  have,  as  we  hope,  been  turn- 
ed from  darkness  to  light.  It  was  indeed  a  glorious 
season,  which  will  long  be  remembered  by  many  as 
the  time  of  their  espousals  to  Christ. 

"  Considering  the  importance  of  a  right  judgment 
of  ourselves,  and  the  extreme  danger  of  those  who 


158  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

settle  down  on  a  false  profession,  I  judged  it  not 
proper  to  encourage  those  who  had  obtained  hopes, 
to  a  sudden  union  with  the  churcli.  The  duty  of  self- 
examination  and  a  comparison  of  their  views  and 
exercises  with  God's  word  were  strongly  urged,  that 
they  might  not  come  to  the  gospel  feast  without  a 
wedding  garment.  None  were  admitted  till  the  sum- 
mer of  1800,  when  at  different  times  thirty-five  were 
received,  and  six  have  since  been  admitted.  The 
awakening  has  embraced  persons  of  almost  all  ages, 
from  fifteen  to  sixty-five.  Excepting  seventeen  young 
persons,  the  rest  were  mostly  young  heads  of  families. 
This  gives  a  hopeful  prospect  that  the  rising  genera- 
tion will  more  extensively  enjoy  the  great  blessings 
of  family  prayer  and  religious  instruction. 

"  The  sovereignty  of  God  has  been  eminently  dis- 
played in  this  revival.  Not  those  whom  we  expected, 
but  those  whom  God  pleased,  were  called  to  repent- 
ance.    One  is  taken  and  another  left. 

"  From  what  God  has  done  for  us,  it  is  thought  all 
churches  may  learn  the  importance  and  safety  of  faith- 
fully maintaining  the  discipline  which  Christ  has  es- 
tablished. If  it  is  conducted  with  the  prudence,  vigi- 
lance, and  brotherly  love  which  the  cases  require, 
the  blessing  of  God  may  be  confidently  expected. 

"  One  remark  more.  It  was  common  for  those 
under  serious  impressions  to  have  much  opposition  to 
the  doctrines  of  grace,  particularly  the  justice  of  God 
in  the  eternal  punishment  of  the  finally  impenitent, 
divine  sovereignty,  and  the  electing  love  of  God,  but 
they  found  no  peace  till  those  doctrines  were  made 
the  foundation  of  their  hope.      When  reconciled  to 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  159 

him  through  the  merits  of  his  Son,  they  expressed 
great  surprise  that  they  had  never  understood  these 
plain  gospel  truths  before,  or  seen  their  excellency 
and  beauty." 

From  Rev.  Ebenezer  Porter,  D.  D.,  Washington,  Conn.,  after- 
wards Professor  in  the  Theol.  Sem.,  Andover.     1803. 

"  Though  this  church  had  enjoyed  a  preached  gos- 
pel with  very  little  interruption  since  its  formation, 
a  period  of  sixty-four  years,  nothing  that  could  prop- 
erly be  termed  a  revival  of  religion  had  ever  taken 
place  till  the  present.  Many  families  had  no  altar 
for  God.  Many  parents  seemed  to  behold  their  dear 
offspring  going  in  the  ways  that  lead  to  destruction, 
without  uttering  one  warning,  or  offering  one  prayer 
for  their  eternal  salvation.  Out  of  the  church  was 
to  be  seen  a  general  carelessness  ;  in  it  a  spirit  of  deep 
slumber,  a  want  of  discipline,  a  want  of  brotherly 
love — a  want  of  every  thing  almost,  but  cold,  cold  pro- 
fession. 

"  There  was  a  glimmering  hope  of  better  things 
for  a  short  time,  in  the  winter  of  1801.  A  weekly 
church  conference  was  attended  regularly  about  two 
months,  when  it  declined  till  it  entirely  ceased.  It 
seemed  as  though  an  offended  God  was  about  to  seal 
us  up  under  a  holy  rebuke :  *  Sleep  on  now,  and  take 
your  rest.'  That  the  only  hope  is  the  sovereign  mer- 
cy of  God,  I  had  long  believed,  but  had  never  so 
deeply  felt  before.  Means,  however,  were  not  to  be 
neglected. 

"Early  in  the  summer  of  1802,  special  meetings 
were  appointed  for  the  youth.  These  meetings  were 
attended  every  other  week,  in  the  form  of  a  theologi- 


160  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

cal  school.  At  each  meeting,  a  question  in  the  order 
of  a  system  was  given,  accompanied  with  an  extem- 
pore lecture,  or  with  notice  that  a  sermon  would  be 
adapted  to  the  subject  on  the  following  Sabbath.  At 
the  meeting  succeeding  that  on  which  the  question 
was  given,  the  papers  that  had  been  written  by  the 
youth  were  received  and  read  publicly.  These  papers 
were  so  received  as  to  have  the  author  of  each  one 
unknown  to  every  other.  With  the  same  precaution 
they  were  returned.  These  meetings  succeeded,  to 
my  joy  and  astonishment.  They  substituted  solid 
improvement  for  the  ordinary  levities  of  young  peo- 
ple. They  excited  a  relish  for  profitable  conversa- 
tion, reading,  and  reflection ;  they  furnished  the  mind 
with  useful  ideas,  rendered  the  more  permanent  by 
the  labor  of  acquiring  them  5  and  what  is  more  and 
most  important  of  all,  they  opened  an  avenue  for  the 
solemn  influence  of  truth,  by  a  divine  blessing,  to 
reach  the  conscience  and  the  heart.  A  respectable 
number  usually  attended  on  these  occasions,  and  twelve 
or  fifteen  wrote  on  the  same  question.  It  was  sur- 
prising to  witness  the  progress  made  by  them,  not 
only  in  correct  writing,  but  in  doctrinal  knowledge. 

"Near  the  close  of  the  summer  of  1803,  several 
persons  became  seriously  impressed.  Weekly  confer- 
ences were  revived.  During  the  winter,  the  opera- 
tions of  the  divine  Spirit  were  discernible  in  every 
part  of  the  society.  The  church,  which  had  appeared 
to  languish  as  with  a  wasting  hectic,  put  on  the  aspect 
of  returning  health.  Through  the  next  spring  and 
summer,  though  thirteen  had  been  added  to  the  church, 
we  were  still  between  hope  and  fear.     God's  people 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  161 

longed  for,  rather  than  expected  a  revival.  They 
scarcely  dared  to  believe  that  the  day  had  indeed 
dawned  which  was  to  succeed  a  night  of  more  than 
sixty  years.  But  in  the  autumn,  the  Sun  of  righteous- 
ness arose  upon  us  with  healing  in  his  wings.  As  in 
the  valley  of  EzekieFs  vision,  there  was  a  great  shak- 
ing. Dry  bones,  animated  by  the  breath  of  the  Al- 
mighty, stood  up  new-born  believers.  The  children 
of  Zion  beheld  with  overflowing  hearts,  and  with 
thankful  tongues  acknowledged,  'This  is  the  finger 
of  God.'  The  work  was  stamped  conspicuously  with 
the  impress  of  its  divine  author,  and  its  joyful  effects 
evinced  no  other  than  the  agency  of  Omnipotence.  So 
manifestly  was  it  the  work  of  God,  that  opposition, 
however  it  might  have  rankled  in  the  bosoms  of  indi- 
viduals, was  awed  into  silence.  Many  old  professors, 
amidst  the  majesty  and  glory  of  the  scene,  seemed 
unable  to  contain,  and  equally  unable  to  express  the 
wonder  and  joy  of  their  hearts.  During  a  winter 
unusually  severe,  nothing  could  surpass  the  resolution 
with  which  numbers  attended,  to  be  instructed  in  the 
way  of  salvation.  From  the  extremity  of  the  season, 
apprehensions  were  entertained  for  persons  of  deli- 
cate constitutions;  but  the  people  were  seldom  or 
never  more  healthy. 

"  As  the  first-fruit  of  this  precious  and  memorable 
season,  fifty-four  persons  have  been  added  to  the 
church,  none  of  whom,  blessed  be  God,  have  been  left 
to  discredit  their  holy  profession. 

"  It  would  be  more  important  to  delineate  partic- 
ularly the  nature  and  fruits  of  this  work,  did  it  not 
bear  so  strong  an  affinity  in  these  respects  to  the 


162  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

revivals  already  described.  Without  an  exception, 
its  special  subjects  were  calm  in  their  exercises,  and 
embraced  that  system  of  religious  sentiments  com- 
monly acknowledged  and  received  in  our  churches. 

"  From  the  commencement  of  this  work  to  its  visi- 
ble decline  was  more  than  eighteen  months,  and  meet- 
ings, though  frequent,  seemed  not  at  all  to  interfere 
with  necessary  temporal  avocations.  An  increased 
industry  could  easily  redeem  the  time  devoted  to  this 
purpose  from  unprofitable  or  foolish  pursuits. 

"  Before  this  revival  more  than  ordinary  attention 
had  been  paid  to  the  rising  generation,  and  of  the 
number  added  to  the  church  about  three-fourths  had 
sprung  from  professing  parents.  Besides  the  meet- 
ings of  the  young  people,  the  church  as  a  church  has 
appointed  a  catechizing  committee  to  teach  the  chil- 
dren. These  catechizings  have  since  been  regularly 
attended  during  the  summer  season  between  the  ser- 
vices on  every  other  Sabbath. 

"  While  infidelity  is  searching  out  every  avenue 
for  infusing  its  deadly  poison  into  the  minds  of  the 
young,  is  it  not  a  matter  of  surprise  that  their  relig- 
ious instruction  should  not  have  had  more  share  in 
the  thoughts,  the  conversation,  and  the  prayers  of 
God's  people  ?  Do  not  the  signs  of  the  times  summon 
ministers  and  Christians  generally  to  exertions  more 
united,  and  more  correspondent  with  an  object  of 
such  acknowledged  and  immense  importance?" 

From  Judge  E-eeve  of  Litchfield,  Conn.,  to   Judge  Boudinot 
of  JTewark,  New  Jersey. 

"  In  the  astonishing  scene  that  has  been  passing 
at  Litchfield,  there  has  been  a  great  diversity  in  such 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  163 

as  were  awakened  to  a  serious  concern  as  to  their 
immortal  interests,  and  at  length  have  obtained  a 
hope  that  thej  have  passed  from  death  to  life.  All 
had  a  sensible  conviction  of  the  depravity  of  their 
hearts,  and  saw  that  this  depravity  was  odious  and 
criminal,  for  which  they  deserved  to  experience  the 
penalties  of  a  righteous  law,  which  they  had  broken 
in  innumerable  instances,  and  all  agreed  in  choosing 
to  be  in  the  hands  of  God;  but  there  was  a  wide 
difference  in  the  degree  of  distress  which  took  place 
previous  to  experiencing  that  submission  of  will  to 
God  which  all  felt.  While  some  felt  a  violent  oppo- 
sition of  heart  to  the  law  and  government  of  a  holy 
God,  it  was  scarcely  perceivable  in  others.  Some 
were  in  distress  but  a  few  days  before  they  received 
relief,  while  others  remained  in  sorrow  for  many 
months.  Instances  of  sudden  transition  from  deep 
distress  to  great  joy,  were  comparatively  few.  In 
most  cases  the  subjects  of  this  work  who  eventually 
obtained  hope  of  their  good  estate,  after  having  felt 
great  anxiety  of  mind,  and  a  deep  sense  of  the  odious- 
ness  of  their  character  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  a 
thorough  conviction  that  it  would  be  just  in  him  to 
cast  them  off  for  ever,  seemed  to  lose  their  anxiety 
about  themselves,  and  it  was  a  common  thing  for 
them  to  complain  that  they  were  becoming  stupid 
and  had  lost  their  convictions.  Yet  during  this  state 
of  their  supposed  stupidity,  it  was  remarkable  that 
their  sense  of  the  corruption  of  their  hearts  greatly 
increased,  they  no  longer  felt  any  opposition  to  the 
character  of  God,  but  on  the  contrary,  it  appeared  to 
them  glorious  because  he  was  a  sin-hating  God,  while 


164  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

at  this  time  they  had  no  apprehension  that  their 
hearts  were  changed;  and  while  their  Christian 
friends  entertained  the  strongest  hopes  that  they 
were  new  creatures,  they  left  them  to  their  own  re- 
flections without  informing  them  of  their  opinion  con- 
cerning them.  When  they  began  to  hope,  it  was  with 
much  trembling,  and  they  gradually  advanced  to  a 
steady  comfortable  hope  with  great  caution  and  much 
self-examination.  This  has  been  the  most  usual  meth- 
od, though  there  have  been  some  remarkable  instances 
of  persons  passing  from  the  most  pungent  distress  to 
the  most  elevated  joys,  and  I  have  never  heard  of  a 
case  where  confidence  has  arisen  through  the  medium 
of  dreams,  visions,  or  texts  of  Scripture  coming  sud- 
denly into  their  minds." 

Reply  of  Judge  Boudinot  to  Judge  Reeve. 

"  If  I  was  to  copy  your  letter,  and  return  it  as 
from  myself,  it  would  be  almost  in  every  particular 
what  has  passed  here.  About  six  years  ago,  when 
our  worthy  pastor  Mr.  Grjffin  first  came  to  this 
place,  we  had  a  revival  of  religion  among  us,  and 
about  a  hundred  and  thirty  were  added  to  the  church. 
After  that  had  declined  we  were  rather  in  a  dull 
state,  which  in  August  last  was  very  low.  The  ad- 
ministration of  the  Lord^s  supper  was  to  take  place 
on  the  first  Sabbath  of  September.  On  the  Sabbath 
preceding,  it  was  recommended  to  the  church  to  keep 
the  Friday  on  which  the  preparatory  lecture  was  to 
be  preached  as  a  day  of  humiliation,  fasting,  and 
prayer  that  God  would  pour  out  his  Spirit  and  revive 
his  work.  If  ever  the  verity  of  the  words  of  sacred 
writ, '  Before  they  call  I  will  answer,  and  while  they 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  165 

are  yet  speaking  I  will  hear/  was  proved,  it  was  in 
this  instance.  The  meeting  was  unusually  full,  the 
Sabbath  was  peculiarly  solemn.  On  Monday,  our 
worthy  pastor  went  out  in  the  morning  to  visit  in  the 
neighborhood,  without  the  least  suspicion  that  any 
thing  more  than  common  had  taken  place,  when,  to 
his  astonishment,  in  every  house  into  which  he  enter- 
ed, the  family  appeared  like  Cornelius  of  old,  ready 
to  receive  the  words  of  truth,  and  soon  melted  into 
tears.  The  flame  at  once  caught  the  hearts  of  the 
truly  pious  among  us.  The  next  Sabbath  morning 
a  number  agreed  to  form  a  society  to  meet  at  nine 
o'clock,  and  spend  an  hour  previous  to  going  to 
church  in  prayer  to  God,  for  his  blessing  on  the 
word.  They  styled  themselves  the  Aaron  and  Hur 
Society,  as  supporting  the  hands  of  their  minister. 
It  was  not  long  before  the  blessed  work  pervaded 
every  part  of  the  congregation.  No  age  was  ex- 
empted. We  have  had  instances  of  persons  between 
sixty  and  eighty,  some  of  whom  had  led  what  they 
called  moral  lives,  and  trusted  they  were  going  to 
heaven,  who  were  brought  to  see  that  instead  of  be- 
ing '  rich  and  increased  in  goods,  and  having  need  of 
nothing,'  they  were  '  wretched  and  miserable  and  poor 
and  blind  and  naked.^  Others  who  had  never  troub- 
led themselves  about  any  of  these  things,  were  made 
to  cry  out  in  the  bitterness  of  their  spirit,  '  What 
shall  we  do  to  be  saved  V 

"  The  operations  of  the  divine  Spirit  have  been  as 
variable  as  with  you.  Take  your  own  description, 
and  you  have  ours  correctly." 


166  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

Rev.  Dr.  Baldwin,  Boston,  and  Rev.  Messrs.  Ledoyt  and 
Seamans,  New  Hampshire.     1790-1803. 

About  the  time  that  Dr.  Baldwin  commenced  his 
labors  in  the  Second  Baptist  church,  Boston,  in  1790, 
"  a  revival  began  in  which  not  far  from  seventy  were 
added  to  his  church,  and  about  the  same  number  to 
the  First  church.  Another  revival  began  in  1803, 
and  continued  more  than  two  years,  in  which  about 
two  hundred  were  brought  into  his  church,  and  about 
two  hundred  also  into  the  First  church. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Ledoyt  of  Newport,  N.  H.,  wrote, 
in  1793,  "It  has  been  a  long,  dark,  and  cloudy  night 
with  me  and  the  people  here ;  but,  glory  to  our  God, 
the  cloud  is  dispersing  fast.  His  work  is  begun 
among  us.  Newport  and  Croydon  are  greatly  blessed. 
I  have  baptized  twenty-nine  in  four  weeks.  The  work 
appears  to  be  going  on." 

In  1792,  a  work  began  in  New  London,  N.  H., 
of  which  Rev.  Mr.  Seamans  wrote,  "  This  town  con- 
sists of  about  fifty  families,  and  I  hope  that  between 
forty  and  fifty  souls  have  been  translated  out  of  dark- 
ness into  God's  marvellous  light,  besides  a  number  in 
Sutton  and  Fishersfield  who  congregate  with  us.  Fif- 
teen have  joined  the  church,  and  I  expect  that  a  num- 
ber more  will  come  forward  in  a  short  time.  We 
have  lectures  or  conferences  almost  every  day  or 
evening  in  the  week.  Our  very  children  meet  to- 
gether to  converse  and  pray  with  each  other.  Some 
things  in  this  work  have  exceeded  every  thing  I  ever 
saw  before.  Convictions  have  usually  been  very 
clear  and  powerful,  so  that  industrious  men  and 
women  have  had  neither  inclination  nor  strenojth  to 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  16t 

follow  their  business  as  usual.  And  they  freely 
acknowledge  the  justice  and  sovereignty  of  God. 
They  also  have  desires  beyond  what  I  have  ever 
before  known  for  the  universal  outpouring  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.'^ 

"This  work  continued,  and  the  next  year  the 
church,  which,  at  its  commencement,  consisted  of  only 
eighteen  members,  had  increased  to  a  hundred  and 
fifteen.  Some  of  all  ages,  from  seventy  down  to  eight 
years  old,  had  been  brought  in;  and  what  was  re- 
markable, there  were  at  that  time  in  this  church, 
thirty-seven  men  and  their  wives." 

From  Rev.  Dr.  Wood,  Boscawen,  N.  H.,  to  Rev.  Dr.  Justin 
Edwards. 

"  When  I  entered  on  my  ministry  in  this  town,  in 

1781,  the  church  consisted  of  but  twenty  members  in 
all,  and  the  state  of  religion  around  wore  a  very 
gloomy  aspect.  A  revival  of  religion  had  hardly 
been  known.     In  consequence  of  our  first  revival,  in 

1782,  which  added  to  the  church  between  thirty  and 
forty  heads  of  families,  I  was  abundantly  called 
upon  to  labor  in  the  neighboring  towns ;  and  as  the 
doctrines  of  grace  had  been  but  little  inculcated,  the 
churches  were  in  a  very  low  and  formal  state.  In  a 
number  of  instances  I  witnessed  a  change  in  senti- 
ment, and  a  revival  of  the  spirit  of  religion,  which 
the  work  that  the  Lord  had  wrought  among  my  peo- 
ple served  greatly  to  strengthen  and  increase,  till 
nearly  the  whole  vicinity  became  revolutionized. 

"  When  I  entered  on  the  ministry,  I  reflected  with 
myself  that  if  I  should  labor  all  my  days,  and  be  in- 
strumental of  the  salvation  of  one  soul,  that  would  be 


168  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

more  than  an  ample  reward.  But  now  I  may  say, 
that  goodness  and  mercy  have  attended  me.  Since 
I  came  here  we  have  been  favored  with  seven  or 
eight  seasons  of  the  special  outpouring  of  the  Spirit ; 
the  two  first  and  the  two  last  were  very  powerful. 
Since  my  settlement  about  four  hundred  and  thirty 
have  been  added  to  the  church,  and  I  should  suppose 
that  three  hundred  of  those  have  been  or  now  are 
heads  of  families." 

Dr.  Wood,  in  a  small  inland  congregation,  fitted 
for  college  nearly  one  hundred  students,  thirty-seven 
of  vfhom,  in  1823,  had  entered  the  ministry,  and 
others  were  studying  in  preparation.  About  thirty 
obtained  a  hope  in  Christ  while  residing  in  his  fam- 
ily, and  a  number  who  there  received  religious  im- 
pressions, afterwards  joined  themselves  to  the  people 
of  God. 

From  Rev.  Jesse  Edson,  Halifax,  Vermont,  August,  1802. 

"The  first  appearances  of  the  revival  began  in  the 
church;  professors  seemed  to  awake  from  their  stu- 
pidity and  coldness.  The  spirit  of  prayer  was  poured 
out  upon  them,  and  frojn  this  time  there  began  to  be 
a  visible  shaking  among  the  dry  bones,  and  a  few 
individuals  were  raised  to  spiritual  life.  The  Holy 
Spirit  seemed  to  come  down  like  a  rushing,  mighty 
wind,  to  melt  the  souls  of  God's  children,  to  cause 
sinners  to  tremble,  stubborn  wills  to  bow,  and  hard 
hearts  to  relent.  Numbers  flocked  to  Christ  as  a 
cloud,  and  as  doves  to  their  windows.  Fifteen  were 
received  the  next  communion,  twenty-one  the  commun- 
ion following ;  about  sixty,  in  the  whole.  They  were 
of  different  ages  from  above  fifty  down  to  fifteen  years. 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  169 

"  The  work  was  remarkably  free  from  enthusiasm 
and  disorder,  and  accompanied  with  a  great  sense  of 
the  evil  of  sin.  The  subjects  of  the  work  were  led 
to  see  themselves  destitute  of  any  righteousness  of 
their  own  to  recommend  them  to  God ;  that  they 
were  totally  depraved,  deserving  nothing  from  God 
but  everlasting  misery,  and  entirely  dependent  on 
sovereign  grace  to  pluck  them  as  brands  from  the 
burning.  The  doctrines  to  which  some  of  them  had 
been  particularly  opposed,  became  sweet  and  ravish- 
ing doctrines. 

"  One  instance  somewhat  singular,  may  be  worthy 
of  note.  There  was  a  respectable  man  who  remained 
an  attentive  observer  till  near  the  close  of  the  awak- 
ening, without  any  particular  operation  on  his  own 
mind.  Going  one  day  out  of  town,  on  a  law-suit,  it 
turned  in  his  mind  that  the  Bible  was  the  best  law 
book,  the  eternal  rule  of  right  between  man  and  man. 
The  same  thought  occurred  to  his  mind  frequently 
when  going  home,  and  when  he  retired  for  the  night  ; 
but  it  gave  him  no  particular  alarm.  When  he  awak- 
ed before  day,  the  same  impression  was  running  in 
his  mind,  '  The  Bible  is  the  best  law  book.'  He  rose, 
made  a  fire,  and  while  he  sat  meditating  upon  this 
impression,  all  at  once  his  soul  was  filled  with  rapture, 
and  ere  he  was  aware,  he  was  '  like  the  chariots  of  Am- 
minadib.'  He  beheld  such  glory  and  beauty  in  the  di- 
vine character  as  he  could  not  describe,  and  his  mouth 
was  immediately  filled  with  praise.  He  set  up  family 
duties,  and  continued  in  this  sweet  and  comfortable 
frame  of  mind  for  a  considerable  time,  without  think- 
ing of  its  being  a  change  of  ]ieart ;  but  finding  his 

Rev.  Sketches  8 


no  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

soul  filled  with  love  to  God,  drawn  fortli  with  pecul- 
iar affection  towards  the  brethren,  and  the  most  ear- 
nest desire  for  the  salvation  of  souls  and  a  delight  in 
the  duties  of  religion,  he  was  led  to  hope  he  had  be- 
come a  new  man,  and  was  admitted  to  the  church, 
where  he  has  adorned  his  profession. 

"Another  was  the  case  of  a  woman  who  was  a 
violent  opposer  in  a  former  awakening ;  tried  to  hin- 
der her  husband,  who  was  then  a  sharer,  from  com- 
ing forward ;  opposed  him  in  family  duties,  and  made 
his  life  exceedingly  uncomfortable.  She  showed  the 
utmost  spite  against  all  who  appeared  engaged  in  the 
work,  and  would  rage  as  if  she  wanted  means  to  vent 
her  malice.  She  would  not  attend  meeting,  nor  read 
the  Bible,  nor  any  good  book.  But  God  in  his  infi- 
nite mercy  arrested  her.  For  several  months  she 
was  under  the  most  pungent  convictions.  All  her 
wickedness,  bitterness,  enmity,  and  rage,  appeared  to 
her  to  be  pointed  directly  against  God.  The  pains  of 
hell  gat  hold  upon  her,  and  she  was  ready  to  give 
up  in  despair.  In  this  extremity  God  met  her,  and 
brought  her  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  gospel, 
giving  her  to  taste  the  sweets  of  redeeming  love. 
She  found  peace  and  comfort ;  happiness  was  restored 
to  the  family,  and  joy  and  gladness  revived  in  the 
hearts  of  God's  children." 

From  a  letter  dated  Rutland,  Vermont.  Feb.,  1803. 

"The  Lord  is  making  surprising  manifestations  of 
his  love  and  power  among  us,  in  subduing  the  hearts 
of  sinners  to  the  sceptre  of  Jesus.  It  is  such  a  time 
as  I  never  saw  before.  We  have  conferences  almost 
every  evening  in  one  part  of  the  parish  or  another. 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  171 

There  are  no  outcries,  but  it  seems  like  'the  still 
small  voice.'  Sometimes  the  work  seems  as  if  it 
would  carry  all  before  it.  Opposition  has  been  made 
in  various  ways,  but  has  been  totally  in  vain. 

"In  Pittsford,  the  town  north  of  this,  a  similar 
work  began  about  six  months  ago,  since  which  time 
about  one  hundred  have  made  public  profession  of 
religion. 

"  Thus,  after  eighteen  years  of  deadness  and  dark- 
ness, we  have  really  a  time  of  refreshing;  for  when 
the  Lord  builds  up  Zion,  he  appears  in  his  glory." 

From  Rev.  John  B.  Preston,  Rupert,  Vt.,  July,  1804. 

"I  have  been  settled  in  the  ministry  here  between 
six  and  seven  years,  and  till  within  a  few  months 
past,  have  habitually  felt  that  my  labors  were  in 
vain,  and  that  my  strength  was  spent  for  naught. 
From  year  to  year  religion  was  declining,  the  church 
was  decreasing  in  numbers  and  graces,  and  iniquity 
abounded.  A  little  more  than  a  year  ago,  the  dark- 
ness reached  its  height,  and  appeared  scarcely  to 
admit  the  smallest  beam  of  hope. 

"In  this  hour  of  extremity,  a  small  number  of  the 
few  remaining  professors  agreed  to  meet  once  a  week 
for  social  prayer.  At  first  the  number  was  very 
small,  sometimes  not  more  than  two  or  three;  but 
they  appeared  strong  in  the  faith,  and  fervent  in 
prayer,  the  Spirit  helping  their  infirmities  with  groan- 
ings  which  could  not  be  uttered.  The  meetings  be- 
came increasingly  solemn,  so  that  in  September,  the 
number  of  religious  conferences,  or  rather  prayer- 
meetings,  in  different  parts  of  the  society  were  multi- 
plied to  four  in  a  week.    A  day  of  fasting  and  prayer 


112  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

•was  observed  about  tliis  time,-  and  attended  with  a 
special  degree  of  solemnity. 

"But  nothing  very  special  occurred  till  some  time 
in  November,  when  on  a  sudden  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  appeared  to  come  down  upon  us  like  '  a  rushing 
mighty  wind.' '  Almost  the  whole  society  seemed  to 
be  shaken  at  once.  Scarce  a  family  could  be  found 
in  which  there  were  not  some  inquiring  what  they 
should  do  to  be  saved.  Our  prayer-meetings  were 
crowded,  and  solemn  to  an  amazing  degree.  No 
emotions  more  violent  than  shedding  of  tears,  and  no 
appearance  of  wildness  and  disorder  occurred.  Noth- 
ing appeared  but  a  silent,  fixed  attention,  and  pro- 
found solemnity,  the  most  resembling  my  idea  of  the 
day  of  judgment  of  any  scene  I  ever  witnessed.  Infi- 
delity retired,  or  was  overcome  by  the  bright  mani- 
festations of  divine  power  and  grace.  Several  who 
had  been  hardened  in  loose  principles,  were  made  to 
believe  and  tremble.  One  who  for  a  number  of  years 
had  been  trusting  to  the  delusive  scheme  of  Univer- 
salism,  was  constrained  to  say,  '  I  know  that  there  is 
one  sinner  who  deserves  eternal  punishment.  No 
man  can  ever  have  that  sight  of  his  sins  and  sense 
of  his  guilt  which  God  has  given  me,  and  remain  a 
Universalist.' 

"It  is  impossible  fully  to  describe  the  amazing 
change  that  took  place  among  us  within  a  few  weeks, 
and  even  a  few  days.  It  was  glorious  to  '  stand  still 
and  see  the  salvation  of  God.'  The  solemnity  con- 
tinued and  increased  till  about  the  middle  of  Febru- 
ary. The  youth  have  hopefully  shared  very  largely  in 
the  blessings  that  have  fallen  upon  us.     Thirty-five 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  11^ 

young  men  and  women,  the  most  of  whom  but  one 
year  ago  were  wholly  devoted  to  sinful  amusements, 
now  sit  with  us  around  the  table  of  the  Lord.  The 
whole  number  of  additions  to  the  church-  since  the 
work  began,  is  eighty-four.  Since  it  commenced,  we 
have  observed  not  less  than  six  days  of  public  fasting 
and  prayer,  which  the  Lord  has  manifestly  crowned 
with  great  success  in  carrying  on  his  work  among  us. 

"The  truths  which  have  been  most  evidently  bless- 
ed in  this  revival,  have  been  the  divine  holiness  and 
sovereignty,  the  grace  of  the  gospel,  and  the  sinner's 
total  depravity  and  dependence.  And  those  who 
have  obtained  a  hope  that  they  were  the  subjects  of 
divine  grace,  have  almost  without  exception  appeared 
fully,  understandingly,  and  cordially  to  assent  to  all 
those  humbling  doctrines  of  the  Bible. 

"Within  little  more  than  a  year,  the  Spirit  has 
also  been  wonderfully  poured  out  upon  a  number  of 
towns,  and  about  a  thousand  have  been  added  to  the 
churches  of  Clirist  in  Bennington  and  Rutland  coun- 
ties. Bennington,  Sandgate,  Rupert,  Dorset,  Tinmouth, 
Rutland,  Brandon,  Pittsford,  Benson,  and  Orwell,  have 
shared  the  most  largely  in  this  shower  of  divine 
grace.  Not  less  than  fifty  have  been  added  to  the 
church  in  each  of  these  towns,  and  in  several,  more 
than  a  hundred.  Most  of  the  other  towns  have  shared 
in  some  degree. 

"Li  the  county  of  Addison,  several  towns  have 
likewise  been  favored  with  some  droppings  from  the 
same  cloud.  In  Bridport,  Addison,  and  Weybridge, 
there  have  been  considerable  additions.  In  Hebron, 
there  has  been  a  great  awakening  the  winter  past, 


lU  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

and  the  work  now  appears  spreading  around  them. 
No  minister  was  ever  settled  there,  nor  church  form- 
ed, and  the  gospel  but  seldom  preached.  But  the 
Lord  has  been  pleased  to  pass  over  to  their  help,  and 
to  work  among  them  for  his  great  name's  sake. 

"Should  not  the  friends  of  Zion  be  strong,  and  re- 
joice in  the  Lord?  From  the  east  and  from  the  west, 
from  the  north  and  from  the  south,  are  heard  songs, 
even  glory  to  the  righteous.  The  voice  of  the  Bride- 
groom is  heard  in  our  land.  The  foolish  and  the 
righteous  are  awakening  from  their  long  slumbers. 
"When  the  enemy  came  in  like  a  flood,  then  the  Lord 
lifted  up  a  standard  against  him.  Let  saints  rejoice 
in  their  King :  let  Zion  arise  and  shine,  for  her  light 
has  come.  The  Lord  is  gathering  in  his  elect  from 
the  four  corners  of  the  earth.  Woe  to  the  inhabi- 
tants thereof,  who  shall  survive  this  day  of  the  pow- 
erful manifestations  of  divine  grace,  and  be  found 
among  the  incorrigible  number  whom  the  Lord  will 
destroy  with  the  brightness  of  his  coming." 

From  Rev.  Dr.  Proudfit,  of  the  Associate  Reformed  church, 
Salem,  N.  Y.,  to  Eev.  Dr.  Sprague.     1796-1802. 

"  We  have  uniformly  been  in  the  habit  of  dispens- 
ing the  ordinance  of  the  Supper  four  times  in  the  year, 
and  so  far  as  I  recollect,  have  never  had  a  sacramen- 
tal occasion  without  some  accession  to  our  numbers. 
But  during  this  long  period  we  have  enjoyed,  at  dif- 
ferent intervals,  what  would  now  be  pronounced  'a 
revival  of  religion.'  The  refreshing  influences  of 
divine  grace  descended  silently  and  softly  upon  the 
heritage  of  the  Lord,  like  the  showers  of  spring  after 
the  dreariness  and  barrenness  of  winter.     A  genial 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  175 

warmth  appeared  to  pervade  the  whole  church,  to 
the  joy  of  the  generation  of  the  righteous,  and  at  the 
same  time,  multitudes  were  added  to  the  Lord  by  an 
external  profession  of  his  name. 

"  One  of  these  occasions  occurred  in  the  year  1796, 
when  a  very  unusual  influence  apparently  accompan- 
ied the  outward  dispensation  of  the  word,  sealing  it 
upon  the  souls  both  of  sinners  and  saints.  A  similar 
season  occurred  about  six  years  afterwards ;  and  an- 
other and  still  more  memorable  visitation  of  the  Spir- 
it was  enjoyed  in  the  year  1815. 

"During  all  these  seasons  of  enlargement  to  my- 
self, and  of  spiritual  joy  to  the  children  of  adoption 
under  my  immediate  care,  and  of  the  '  espousals  of 
others  to  Jesus  as  their  husband,'  no  extra  efforts 
were  used,  no  brethren  from  other  towns  were  called 
in  to  our  aid,  but  the  work  advanced  silently  and  reg- 
ularly, promoted  exclusively  under  the  divine  bless- 
ing by  the  ordinary  administration  of  ordinances, 
private  and  public.  Yet,  during  the  whole  course  of 
my  ministry,  I  have  never  been  favored  with  seasons 
more  delightful  in  their  recollection — none  the  results 
of  which  I  anticipate  with  more  joy  on  that  day  when 
the  final  account  of  my  stewardship  will  be  required." 

From  Hev.  Dr.  Thomas  De  Witt,  New  York. 

"The  portion  of  the  church  of  Christ  with  which 
I  am  connected,  (the  Reformed  Dutch  church  in  Amer- 
ica,) has  at  different  times,  in  several  parts,  been  fa- 
vored with  gracious  seasons  of  revival.  At  the  time 
of  Whitefield's  first  labors  in  America,  there  was  al- 
ready existing  a  powerful,  extended,  and  well-marked 
work  of  grace,  under  the  ministry  of  the  Rev.  Theo- 


116  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

dore  J.  Frelingliuysen,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Somer- 
ville  and  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.  The  blessed  fruits 
of  this  work  were  widely  spread  in  those  parts,  en- 
dured through  the  following  generations,  and  may- 
yet  be  clearly  traced  at  the  present  time.  Subse- 
quently the  ministries  of  Dr.  Laidlie  at  New  York, 
and  Dr.  Westerlo  at  Albany,  tended  greatly  to  ele- 
vate the  tone  of  evangelical  sentiment  and  piety  in 
our  churches,  and  were  greatly  blessed  in  the  conver- 
sion of  sinners.  The  ministry  of  the  late  Dr.  John 
H.  Livingston  (from  1770  to  1810)  is  well  remember- 
ed as  most  richly  evangelical,  and  clothed  with  a  holy 
unction,  while  the  dew  of  heaven  was  upon  it  in  suc- 
cess. At  one  time  for  several  years  subsequent  to 
the  revolutionary  war,  while  alone  in  the  field  of  his 
labor,  the  continued  dropping  from  on  high  was  on 
his  ministrations,  and  numerous  accessions  were  made 
from  time  to  time  of  such  as  afterwards  exhibited  the 
character  of  enlightened,  experimental,  fruitful  piety. 
Without  referring  to  their  ministries,  it  may  be  re- 
marked that  these  were  the  very  men  most  distin- 
guished among  us  for  their  clear,  discriminating  ex- 
hibition of  divine  truth,  their  strict  adherence  to  the 
order  of  the  gospel,  their  influence  upon  the  general 
welfare  of  the  church,  and  their  wisdom,  zeal,  and 
fidelity  in  the  work  of  the  ministry." 

From  Rev.  Dr.  John  M.  Mason,  New  York,  to   Rev.  William 
Stoddart,  of  Amsterdam. 

Dr.  Mason  was  installed  in  1793,  and  after  eight 
or  ten  years  of  ministerial  labor,  wrote  to  his  friend 
and  class-mate,  "  My  gracious  Lord  has  not  disowned 
my  feeble  labors.      This  man  and  that  have  been 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  Itt 

born  in  our  Zion.  The  congregation  was  compara- 
tively small  when  it  came  into  my  hands,  containing 
not  quite  two  hundred  persons  who  had  been  admit- 
ted to  sacramental  privileges.  During  my  ministry 
about  six  hundred  have  been  added ;  and  the  increase, 
I  trust,  owes  nothing  to  soothing  doctrines,  or  to 
remissness  of  discipline.  Had  we  chosen  to  open  the 
door  to  the  merely  civil  and  moral,  our  number  would 
have  been  much  greater.  But  I  wish  to  see  Chris- 
tians in  the  churches.  The  world  and  the  church  can 
never  unite.  If  we  make  the  foolish  attempt,  there 
will  be  a  conflict,  and  either  the  one  or  the  other 
will  be  prostrated." 

Of  Dr.  Mason's  labors  the  late  Isabella  Graham 
wrote,  in  1793,  '^  Our  young  Timothy  is  a  champion 
for  the  gospel  of  Jesus.  The  Lord  has  well  girded 
him  and  largely  endowed  him.  He  walks  closely 
with  God,  and  speaks  and  preaches  like  a  Christian 
of  long  experience.  He  was  ordained  and  installed 
about  two  months  ago  in  his  father's  church.  0  for 
a  thankful  heart!  The  Lord  has  done  wonders  for 
me  and  mine;  and  blessed  be  his  name,  that  in  a 
remarkable  manner  he  hedged  me  in  to  become  a 
member  of  this  congregation,  where  I  am  led  and  fed 
with  the  same  truths  which  nourished  my  soul  in 
Zion's  gates  at  Edinburgh ;  and  I  am  helped  to  sing 
the  Lord's  song  in  a  strange  land." 

From    Rev.  Dr.    Milledoler,    President    of    Rutgers    College, 
New  Brunswick,  N.  J.     1800-1812. 

"  Those  who  are  born  again  are  said,  in  the  sacred 
Scriptures,  to  be  '  born  of  the  Spirit,'  and  '  times  of 
refreshing '  are  everywhere  attributed  to  Him  as  their 

8* 


178  REYIVAL  SKETCHES. 

author.  It  is  strange  that  the  reality  of  revivals 
should  be  called  in  question  by  those  who  read  the 
Bible,  are  acquainted  with  church  history,  or  have 
any  knowledge  whatever  of  the  ordinary  or  extraor- 
dinary operations  of  the  Spirit  of  God  upon  the  soul. 
"I  have  witnessed  two  revivals  during  my  own 
ministry.  The  first  occurred  between  the  years  1800 
and  1805,  while  I  was  officiating  as  pastor  of  the  Pine- 
street  church,  Philadelphia.  The  second  between  the 
years  1807  and  1812,  while  officiating  as  pastor  of 
the  Rutgers-street  church.  New  York.  The  former 
continued  more  than  eighteen  months ;  the  latter  three 
years.  Both  occurred  under  the  regular  administra- 
tion of  the  word  and  sacraments.  Large  additions 
were  made  during  their  continuance  to  the  commun- 
ion of  those  churches.  The  church  in  Rutgers-street 
grew  in  a  few  years  from  somewhere  about  eighty  to 
upwards  of  seven  hundred  communicating  members. 
This  work  was  connected  with  no  extra  means,  except 
an  additional  weekly  lecture  or  prayer-meeting.  It 
was  attended  with  no  extravagant  demonstrations  of 
any  description  whatever,  but  with  much  apparent 
humility,  with  Christian  aJBfection,  and  there  is  reason 
to  believe,  also,  with  much  searching  of  heart,  and  of 
the  holy  Scriptures.  Of  those  admitted  to  full  com- 
munion at  that  time,  few,  if  any,  are  known  to  have 
apostatized.  I  do  not  myself  recollect  a  single  in- 
stance of  apostasy.'' 

From  Reju«'©Tr*€»-riffin,  in  Newark,    New   Jersey,  to  Rev.  Dr. 
"^     ^-T  I'^fl^yiiljerG-reen,  Philadelphia. 

"About  the  first  of  December,  1806,  we  were  en- 
couraged with  some  symptoms  of  revival  of  religion 


NINETEENTH  CENTUEY.  179 

in  this  village,  but  they  quickly  disappeared ;  and  in 
March,  1807,  they  were  renewed,  but  again  passed 
off.  The  death  of  Dr.  McWhorter  in  July  made  a 
great  impression  on  the  congregation,  which  was  deep- 
ened in  the  month  of  August  through  the  instrumen- 
tality of  the  Rev.  Gideon  Blackburn,  who  preached 
several  times  here  with  great  zeal  and  energy.  The 
leaven  was  secretly  and  increasingly  working  nine 
months  before  it  became  evident.  At  a  time  when 
every  thing  appeared  to  be  still  around  us,  secret 
anxieties  were  preying  upon  a  number  of  persons, 
which  so  far  from  being  the  effect  of  sympathy,  were 
known  only  to  God  and  themselves.  In  this  posture 
things  remained  for  about  a  fortnight.  To  a  few,  it 
was  an  hour  of  awful  suspense.  But  in  some  of  the 
last  days  of  August,  it  became  apparent  that  the  de- 
sire for  a  revival  was  rapidly  spreading  in  the  church. 
"As  our  sacramental  Sabbath  was  approaching, 
this  church,  in  connection  with  two  neighboring 
churches,  agreed  to  set  apart  the  Friday  preceding 
the  communion,  for  fasting  and  prayer,  chiefly  to  make 
supplication  for  the  effusions  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The 
day,  which  was  spent  in  prayer,  singing,  and  short 
addresses  to  the  people,  was  marked  with  unusual 
stillness,  accompanied  with  pleasing  appearances  of 
humility,  earnestness,  and  a  sense  of  entire  depend- 
ence. On  the  following  Sabbath,  a  number  of  per- 
sons assembled  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  to 
spend  an  hour  in  prayer  for  their  minister,  and  for 
the  blessing  of  God  on  the  exercises  of  the  day.  This 
has  become  the  stated  practice  of  almost  all  the  pray- 
ing people  of  the  congregation.    Those  who  attended 


180  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

this  first  meeting  unexpectedly  found  themselves  ani- 
mated "with  desires  unfelt  before,  that  God  would 
that  very  day  bring  out  his  perfections  to  the  view 
of  the  communicants,  and  this  he  did  to  a  degree  that 
had  seldom  or  never  been  seen  before.  On  the  even- 
ing of  the  following  Monday,  at  a  lecture  preached 
in  a  private  house,  evidence  of  the  extraordinary 
presence  of  God,  and  the  actual  commencement  of  a 
revival  of  religion,  was  felt  perhaps  by  every  person 
present.  During  that,  and  the  following  week,  in- 
creasing symptoms  of  a  most  powerful  influence  were 
discovered.  The  appearance  was  as  if  a  collection 
of  waters  long  suspended  over  the  town  had  fallen 
,  at  once,  and  deluged  the  whole  place.  For  several 
I  weeks  the  people  would  stay,  at  the  close  of  every 
j  evening  service,  to  hear  some  new  exhortation.  At 
those  seasons,  you  might  see  a  multitude  weeping 
i  and  trembling  around  their  minister,  and  many  others 
standing  as  astonished  spectators  of  the  scene,  and 
beginning  to  tremble  themselves.  One  Sabbath  after 
the  second  service,  when  I  had  catechized  and  dis- 
missed the  little  children,  they  gathered  around  me 
weeping  and  inquiring  what  they  should  do.  I  know 
not  but  a  hundred  were  in  tears  at  once.  The  scene 
was  as  affecting  as  it  was  unexpected. 

"Early  in  September  many  private  associations 
for  prayer  were  formed,  and  I  never  witnessed  the 
communication  of  so  earnest  a  spirit  of  prayer,  and 
so  general,  nor  observed  such  evident  and  remarka- 
ble answers  to  prayer.  The  agonies  of  parents  have 
been  such  as  to  drive  sleep  from  their  eyes,  and  for 
weeks  together  have  been  seemingly  as  great  as  their 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  181 

nature  could  well  sustain.  And  these  parents,  in 
every  case  that  has  come  within  my  knowledge,  have 
each  several  children  who  are  already  numbered 
among  the  hopeful  converts.  Many  professors  have 
been  severely  tried,  and  not  a  few  have  for  a  time 
given  themselves  over  for  lost." 

"This  work,  in  point  of  power  and  stillness,  ex- 
ceeds all  that  I  have  ever  seen.  While  it  bears  down 
every  thing  with  irresistible  force,  and  seems  almost 
to  dispense  with  human  instrumentality,  it  moves 
with  so  much  silence,  that  unless  we  attentively  ob- 
serve its  effects,  we  are  tempted  at  times  to  doubt 
whether  any  thing  uncommon  is  taking  place.  The 
converts  are  strongly  marked  with  humility  and  self- 
distrust.  Instead  of  being  elated  with  confident  hopes, 
they  are  inclined  to  tremble,  and  almost  all  are  born 
into  the  distinguishing  doctrines  of  grace. 

''I  suppose  there  are  from  two  hundred  and  thir- 
ty to  two  hundred  and  fifty  who  hope  they  have  been 
born  again,  and  many  still  remain  under  solemn  im- 
pressions. The  subjects  of  this  work  are  of  all  ages, 
from  nine  years  old  to  more  than  threescore  and  ten, 
and  of  all  characters,  including  drunkards,  apostates, 
infidels,  and  those  who  were  lately  malignant  oppos- 
ers,  and  of  all  conditions,  including  poor  negroes,  and 
many  of  them  hoary  with  age.  While  we  gaze  with 
wonder  and  delight  at  these  glorious  triumphs  of  the 
Prince  of  peace,  and  weep  for  joy  to  hear  babes  and 
sucklings  sing  hosannas  to  the  Son  of  David,  we  can- 
not but  join  in  the  general  response,  and  cry, '  Blessed 
is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  Hosanna 
in  the  highest.' " 


182  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

In  a  letter  of  1832,  appended  to  Dr.  Sprague's 
Lectures  on  Revivals,  Dr.  Griffin,  giving  a  summary 
view  of  the  revivals  in  Tvhicli  lie  had  labored,  says, 
"The  first  of  June,  1809, 1  was  removed  by  the  prov- 
idence of  God,  and  by  the  advice  of  my  brethren,  to 
the  Theological  Seminary  at  Andover,  and  to  a  con- 
nection with  the  infant  church  in  Park-street,  Boston, 
as  a  stated  preacher.  The  house  in  Park-street  not 
being  finished,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  French  of  Andover 
dying  that  summer,  I  took  the  pulpit,  and  supplied 
it  till  winter,  for  the  benefit  of  the  family.  It  pleased 
God  to  pour  out  his  Spirit.  A  revival  of  very  con- 
siderable extent  ensued,  calculated  to  fit  that  atmos- 
phere to  be  breathed  by  the  sons  of  the  prophets." 

Revival  in  Hampden  Sydney  College,  Virginia.     1787,  1788. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  William  Hill  of  Winchester,  Vir- 
ginia, on  a  public  occasion  gave  the  following  history  : 
"  I  lost  my  sainted  mother  when  I  was  a  youth,  but 
not  before  the  instructions  which  I  received  from  her 
beloved  lips  had  made  a  deep  impression  on  my  mind, 
an  impression  which  I  carried  with  me  into  a  college, 
Hampden  Sydney,  Prince  Edward  county,  where  there 
was  then  not  one  pious  student.  There  I  often  reflect- 
ed, when  surrounded  with  young  men  who  scoffed  at 
religion,  upon  the  instructions  of  my  mother ;  and  my 
conscience  was  frequently  sore  distressed.  I  had  no 
Bible,  and  dreaded  getting  one,  lest  it  should  be  found 
in  my  possession.  At  last  I  could  stand  it  no  longer, 
and  therefore  requested  a  particular  friend,  a  youth 
whose  parents  lived  near,  and  who  often  went  home, 
to  ask  his  pious  and  excellent  mother  to  send  me 
some  religious  book.     She  sent  me  Alleine's  Alarm, 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  183 

an  old  black  book,  which  looked  as  if  it  might  have 
been  handled  by  successive  generations  for  one  hun- 
dred years. 

"  When  I  got  it  I  locked  my  room,  and  lay  on  my 
bed  reading  it,  when  a  student  knocked  at  the  door. 
And  although  I  gave  him  no  answer,  dreading  to  be 
found  reading  such  a  book,  he  continued  to  knock 
and  beat  the  door  until  I  had  to  open  it.  He  came 
in,  and  seeing  the  book  lying  on  the  bed,  he  seized  it, 
and  examining  its  title,  said,  '  Why,  Hill,  do  you  read 
such  books  ?'  I  hesitated,  but  God  enabled  me  to  be 
decided,  and  to  answer  him  boldly,  but  with  much 
emotion, '  Yes,  I  do.'  The  young  man  said,  with  deep 
agitation,  '  Oh,  Hill,  I  envy  you.  You  may  obtain 
religion,  but  I  never  can.  I  came  here  a  professor 
of  religion,  but  through  fear  I  dissembled,  and  have 
been  carried  along  with  the  wicked  until  I  fear  there 
is  no  hope  for  me.' 

"  He  told  me  there  were  two  others  who,  he  be- 
lieved, were  somewhat  serious.  We  agreed  to  take 
up  the  subject  of  religion  in  earnest,  and  seek  it 
together.  We  invited  the  other  two,  and  held  a 
prayer-meeting  in  my  room  on  the  next  Saturday 
afternoon.  And  Oh,  what  a  prayer-meeting!  We 
tried  to  pray,  but  such  prayer  I  never  heard  the  like 
of.  We  knew  not  how  to  pray,  but  tried  to  do  it. 
It  was  the  first  prayer-meeting  I  had  ever  heard  of. 
We  tried  to  sing,  but  it  was  in  a  most  suppressed 
manner,  for  we  feared  the  other  students.  But  they 
found  it  out,  and  gathered  round  the  door,  and  made 
such  a  noise  that  some  of  the  officers  had  to  come  and 
disperse  them.     And  so  serious  was  the  disturbance 


184  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

that  the  president,  the  late  excellent  Rev.  Dr.  John 
Blair  Smith,  had  to  investigate  the  matter  at  prayers, 
that  evening,  in  the  prayer  hall.  When  he  demanded 
the  reason  of  the  riot,  a  ringleader  in  wickedness  got 
up  and  stated,  that  it  was  occasioned  by  three  or  four 
of  the  boys  holding  a  prayer-meeting,  and  they  were 
determined  to  have  no  such  doings  there. 

"  The  good  president  heard  the  statement  with 
deep  emotion,  and  looking  at  the  youths  charged 
with  the  sin  of  praying,  with  tears  in  his  eyes  he  said, 
'  Oh,  is  there  such  a  state  of  things  in  this  college  ? 
Then  God  has  come  near  to  us.  My  dear  young 
friends,  you  shall  be  protected.  You  shall  hold  your 
next  meeting  in  my  parlor,  and  I  will  be  one  of  your 
number.'  Sure  enough  we  had  our  next  meeting  in 
his  parlor,  and  half  the  college  were  there.  And 
there  began  a  glorious  revival  of  religion,  which 
pervaded  the  college,  and  spread  into  the  country 
around. 

"  Many  of  those  students  became  ministers  of  the 
gospel.  The  youth  who  brought  me  Alleine's  Alarm 
from  his  mother,  was  my  friend  the  Rev.  William 
Calhoun,  still  preaching  in  this  state ;  and  he  who 
interrupted  me  in  reading  the  work,  is  my  venerable 
and  worthy  friend  the  Rev.  Dr.  Blythe,  now  president 
of  a  college  in  Indiana.  Another  was  Rev.  Clement 
Reed  of  this  state ;  and  a  fifth,  the  late  Rev.  Carey 
H.  Allen  of  Kentucky." 

This  revival  included  among  its  subjects  half  of 
the  students  in  the  college.  It  extended  into  neigh- 
boring churches,  and  then  into  those  more  remote, 
and  was  more  extensive  and  powerful  than  had  been 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  185 

experienced  in  Virginia  since  the  days  of  President 
Davies,  who  died  in  1761.  Dr.  Smith,  the  president 
of  Hampden  Sydney,  was  greatly  quickened.  "  Two 
hundred  and  twenty  persons,  chiefly  young  people, 
were  added  to  the  churches  to  which  he  ministered 
within  eighteen  months;  and  the  revival  extended 
over  Prince  Edward,  Cumberland,  Charlotte,  and 
Bedford  counties,  and  to  the  Peaks  of  Otter,"  in  the 
Blue  Ridge. 

Dr.  Archibald  Alexander  in  Central  Virginia.     1789,  1790. 

The  history  of  Dr.  Alexander's  early  life  in  the 
valley  of  Virginia,  shows  how  great  was  the  moral 
dearth  there  prevailing  in  the  latter  part  of  the  last 
century,  and  illustrates  the  grace  of  God  in  raising 
up  laborers  to  fulfil  his  own  purposes  of  mercy. 
Though  descended  from  a  worthy  Scotch  Presby- 
terian ancestry,  he  says  of  himself  at  the  age  of  seven- 
teen, in  1789,  "  My  only  notion  of  religion  was,  that 
it  consisted  in  becoming  better.  I  had  never  heard 
of  any  conversions  among  Presbyterians.  .  .  .  The 
state  of  morals  and  religion  after  the  revolutionary 
war  was  very  bad.''  He  engaged  that  year  as  a  tutor 
in  the  family  of  General  Posey,  of  which  a  venerated 
and  pious  Baptist  lady  was  an  inmate,  who  proved  to 
him  an  invaluable  friend.  She  loved  the  writings  of 
Flavel,  and  as  her  eyes  were  weak,  she  often  sent  for 
him  to  read  to  her.  Her  conversation  and  this  read- 
ing with  other  influences  called  his  attention  to  relig- 
ion, and  Soame  Jenyns  on  the  Internal  Evidences 
banished  the  prevalent  French  Infidelity  which  was 
assailing  him.     He  proceeds  to  say  : 

"  My  services  as  a  reader  were  frequently  in  requi- 


186  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

sition,  not  only  to  save  the  eyes  of  old  Mrs.  Tyler,  but 
on  Sundays  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  family.  On 
one  of  these  Sabbath  evenings,  I  was  requested  to 
read  out  of  Flavel.  The  part  on  which  I  had  been 
regularly  engaged  was  the  '  Method  of  Grace,'  but 
now,  by  some  means,  I  was  led  to  select  one  of  the 
sermons  on  Rev.  3  :  20,  '  Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door 
and  knock,'  etc.  The  discourse  was  upon  the  pa- 
tience, forbearance,  and  kindness  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  to  impenitent  and  obstinate  sinners.  As  I 
proceeded  to  read  aloud,  the  truth  took  effect  on  my 
feelings,  and  every  word  I  read  seemed  applicable  to 
my  own  case.  Before  I  finished  the  discourse,  these 
emotions  became  too  strong  for  restraint,  and  my 
voice  began  to  falter.  I  laid  down  the  book,  rose 
hastily,  and  went  out  with  a  full  heart,  and  hastened 
to  my  place  of  retirement.  No  sooner  had  I  reached 
the  spot  than  I  dropped  upon  my  knees,  and  attempt- 
ed to  pour  out  my  feelings  in  prayer,  but  I  had  not 
continued  many  minutes  in  this  exercise  before  I  was 
overwhelmed  with  a  flood  of  joy.  I  was  filled  with 
a  sense  of  the  goodness  and  mercy  of  God."  He 
passed  through  many  fears,  doubts,  and  conflicts  be- 
fore he  was  satisfied  of  his  good  estate,  but  in  his 
later  years  he  regarded  this  as  the  period  of  his  con- 
version to  Christ. 

Hearing  of  the  great  revival  above  noticed  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Prince  Edward,  east  of  the  Blue 
Bidge,  he  accompanied  some  of  his  fellow-students 
and  their  revered  instructor  Rev.  William  Graham, 
rector  of  Liberty  Hall  at  Lexington,  Rockbridge 
county,  to  the  scene  of  wonders,  where  he  passed 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  18T 

some  days;  attended  a  communion-season  at  which 
multitudes  were  present,  heard  Dr.  John  Blair  Smith 
and  others  preach,  saw  William  Hill  and  others  of 
the  recent  converts,  and  on  their  return  "a  revival 
of  great  power  commenced,  which  extended  to  almost 
every  Presbyterian  church  in  the  valley  of  Virginia." 
He,  with  several  other  young  men,  fruits  of  that  revi- 
val, entered  on  study  for  the  ministry ;  he  was  licens- 
ed to  preach,  October,  1791,  and  devoted  himself  to 
labors  in  the  destitute  and  frontier  settlements  of  Vir- 
ginia and  North  Carolina.  A  private  record  of  texts 
and  places  shows  that,  in  the  first  fifteen  months 
of  his  ministry,  he  preached  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
two  sermons,  and  he  says,  "  I  never  thought  of  any 
compensation  for  what  I  did."  His  subsequent  labors 
and  influence,  especially  in  founding  the  Theological 
seminary  in  Princeton,  and  for  nearly  forty  years 
diffusing  a  missionary  and  revival  spirit  among  the 
hundreds  of  its  members,  are  well  known. 

From    a    letter  of  Rev.  Dr.  Furman  of  Charleston,   S.  C,   to 
Rev.  Dr.  Rippon  of  London,  August,  1802. 

Dr.  Furman  gives  a  particular  account  of  a  large 
union  meeting  held  by  Baptists,  Presbyterians,  Meth- 
odists, and  others  at  the  Waxhaws,  about  one  hundred 
and  seventy  miles  from  Charleston,  at  which  he  esti- 
mated that  three  or  four  thousand  were  present,  and 
about  twenty  ministers. 

"The  services,"  he  says,  "were  conducted  with 
much  solemnity.  Many  seemed  to  be  seriously  con- 
cerned for  the  salvation  of  their  souls,  and  the  preach- 
ing and  exhortation  of  the  ministers  in  general  were 
well  calculated  to  make   right  impressions.     Deep 


188  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

conviction  for  sin,  and  apprehension  of  the  wrath  of 
God  were  manifested  at  first,  and  several  afterwards 
appeared  to  have  a  joyful  sense  of  pardoning  mercy 
through  a  Redeemer. 

"  A  very  considerable  number  had  gone  seventy 
or  eighty  miles  from  the  lower  parts  of  this  state  to 
attend  this  meeting,  and  since  their  return  an  extra- 
ordinary revival  has  taken  place  in  the  congregations 
to  which  they  belong.  It  has  spread  also  across  the 
upper  parts  of  this  state.  Taking  it  for  granted  that 
you  have  seen  the  publication  entitled,  '  Surprising 
Accounts,'  by  Woodward  of  Philadelphia,  containing 
the  accounts  of  revivals  in  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and 
North  Carolina,  I  therefore  say  nothing  of  them,  but 
only  that  the  work  in  North  Carolina  increases 
greatly." 

Other  accounts  from  all  the  states  here  named 
show  the  marvellous  displays  of  divine  grace.  In  the 
Kioka  church,  Georgia,  in  1787,  under  the  labors  of 
Mr.  Marshall,  one  hundred  souls  were  brought  in,  and 
"  a  remarkable  ingathering  "  in  that  church  is  record- 
ed about  1802,  "the  time  of  the  great  revival  which 
prevailed  in  many  parts  of  Georgia." 

Revivals  in  Western  Pennsylvania.     1778-1805. 

The  aged  Rev.  Joseph  Stevenson,  who  entered  on 
his  pastoral  labors  about  fifty  years  since  in  Western 
Pennsylvania,  writes: 

"It  may  almost  be  said  that  the  Presbyterian 
church  in  Western  Pennsylvania  was  born  in  a  revi- 
val. In  1778,  Yance's  fort,  into  which  the  families 
living  adjacent  had  been  driven  by  the  Indians,  was 
the  scene  of  a  remarkable  work.     There  was  but  one 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  189 

pious  man  in  the  fort,  Josepli  Patterson,  a  layman, 
an  earnest  and  devoted  Christian,  whose  zeal  had 
not  waned  even  amid  the  storm  and  terrors  of  war  ■ 
and  during  the  long  days  and  nights  of  their  besiege- 
ment,  he  talked  with  his  careless  associates  of  an 
enemy  more  to  be  dreaded  than  the  Indian,  and  a 
death  more  terrible  than  by  the  scalping-knife.  As 
they  were  shut  up  within  very  narrow  limits,  his  voice, 
though  directed  to  one  or  two,  could  easily  be  heard 
by  the  whole  company,  and  thus  his  personal  exhorta- 
tions became  public  addresses.  Deep  seriousness  fill- 
ed every  breast,  and  some  twenty  persons  were  there 
led  to  Christ.  These  were  a  short  time  subsequently 
formed  into  the  Cross  Creek  cliurch,  which  built  its 
house  of  worship  near  the  fort,  and  had  as  its  pastor 
for  thirty-three  years  one  of  these  converts,  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Marques. 

"  From  1781  to  1787,  a  more  extensive  work  of 
grace  was  experienced  in  the  churches  of  Cross  Creek, 
Upper  Buffalo,  Chartiers,  Pigeon  Creek,  Bethel,  Leb- 
anon, Ten  Mile,  Cross  Roads,  and  Mill  Creek,  dur- 
ing which  more  than  a  thousand  persons  were  brought 
into  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  Considering  the  unset- 
tled state  of  the  public  mind  at  the  close  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary war,  the  constant  anxiety  and  watchfulness 
against  the  incursions  of  hostile  Indians,  the  toils  and 
hardships  incident  to  new  settlements,  and  the  scarc- 
ity of  ministers,  this  was  a  signal  work  of  the  Spirit, 
greatly  strengthening  the  feeble  churches.  ^ 

"  From  1795  to  1799,  another  series  of  gracious 
visitations  was  enjoyed  by  the  churches  generally 
throughout  Western  Pennsylvania,  extending  to  tho 


190  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

new  settlements  north  of  Pittsburg.  In  this  work 
Dr.  McMillan,  the  first  settled  pastor  in  Western 
Pennsylvania,  received  into  his  church  one  hundred 
and  ten,  Mr.  Marques  one  hundred  and  twenty-three, 
and  large  additions  were  made  to  many  others. 

"  These  works  of  grace  prepared  the  way  for  the 
larger  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  in  1802  to  1804. 
Many  of  the  subjects  of  these  early  revivals  emigrat- 
ed to  the  surrounding  counties,  and  became  the  ele- 
ments of  new  churches,  while  not  less  than  twenty 
of  those  converts  prepared  for  the  ministry,  and 
were  prominent  laborers  in  the  great  revivals  for 
which  God  had  thus  raised  them  up. 

"  In  the  latter  part  of  1801,  and  the  beginning  of 
1802,  the  meetings  for  social  worship,  and  the  obser- 
vance of  public  ordinances  throughout  Western  Penn- 
sylvania became  remarkable  in  regard  both  to  num- 
bers and  solemnity.  In  the  spring  and  summer  of 
1802,  there  was  a  great  increase  of  prayer  and  expec- 
tation of  a  blessing,  leading  many  to  continue  all 
night  in  pleadings  for  the  Holy  Spirit's  presence. 
In  the  autumn  of  1802,  the  sacramental  seasons  in 
the  various  churches  were  attended  by  large  numbers 
even  from  the  distance  of  fifty  miles,  and  deep  so- 
lemnity felt  by  all.  It  is  believed  that  more  than 
five  thousand  people  sometimes  came  together  on 
these  occasions,  and  remained  for  three,  four,  or  five 
days,  during  which  almost  constant  services  were 
maintained. 

"  At  a  communion  held  in  Cross  Roads,  a  great 
multitude  assembled,  and  nine  ministers  were  present. 
The  meeting-house,  though  large,  being  insufficient  to 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  191 

contain  half  of  the  people  on  the  Sabbath,  the  sacra- 
ment was  administered  at  the  tent  to  about  eight 
hundred  communicants,  of  whom  forty-one  were  ad- 
mitted for  the  first  time.  On  Monday  three  minis- 
ters preached  at  different  places,  one  in  the  house, 
and  two  in  the  encampment.  This  was  a  very  solemn 
day.  At  the  close  of  public  worship  it  was  the  desire 
of  the  ministers  that  the  people  should  disperse,  but 
so  intense  was  the  feeling  that  few  would  leave. 
Many  of  the  young  people  were  deeply  exercised, 
frequently  speaking  to  sinners  of  their  lost  condition, 
of  the  glories  of  the  Saviour,  of  the  excellency  and 
suitableness  of  the  plan  of  salvation,  warning,  invit- 
ing, and  pressing  sinners  to  come  to  Christ ;  and  all 
this  in  a  manner  quite  astonishing  for  their  years. 
Experienced  Christians  also  were  much  refreshed  and 
comforted,  and  affectingly  recommended  the  Lord  Je- 
sus and  his  religion  to  those  around  them.  Such  meet- 
ings were  held  in  various  churches  crowded  with  peo- 
ple from  all  the  surrounding  country,  thousands  were 
brought  under  deep  conviction,  and  many  hundreds 
professed  faith  in  Christ. 

"This  work  extended  with  more  or  less  power 
over  most  of  the  churches  in  Western  Pennsylvania 
and  North-eastern  Ohio.  It  continued  with  little 
abatement  for  two  years,  attesting  itself  to  be  a  true 
work  of  God  by  its  blessed  fruits.  From  that  day 
to  this  those  churches  have  remained  faithful  wit- 
nesses for  Christ,  have  established  schools,  founded 
colleges,  trained  hundreds  of  ministers,  and  sent  forth 
thousands  of  Christians,  as  the  nuclei  of  churches 
over  the  west  and  south." 


192  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

From  Rev.   Thomas  Marques,   Cross   Creek  church,   "Western 
Pennsylvania.     1804. 

"I  took  the  charge  of  this  congregation  in  June 
1794,  and  preached  here  and  in  Buffalo  congregation 
alternately  until  1798.  During  this  period  there  was 
in  general  a  solemn  attention,  a  considerable  number 
were  awakened,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty-three 
were  admitted  to  the  communion,  who  have  generally 
supported  a  profession  becoming  the  gospel. 

"In  1799,  the  Lord  poured  out  the  gracious  influ- 
ences of  his  Holy  Spirit  on  the  congregation,  many 
were  awakened,  and  twenty  added  to  the  church. 

"In  the  spring  of  1802,  the  Lord  again  revived 
his  work,  and  carried  it  on  until  the  first  Tuesday  in 
October,  at  which  time  the  Spirit  seemed  like  a  rush- 
ing mighty  wind,  as  on  the  day  of  pentecost.  Many 
were  alarmed  with  a  view  of  their  own  sinful  condi- 
tion, and  that  of  others  around  them. 

"  They  generally  had  a  deep  sense  of  their  undone 
state  by  nature,  and  their  exposedness  to  the  wrath 
of  God.  It  seemed  as  if  the  sins  of  their  childhood 
and  youth  all  came  up  to  their  view,  but  especially 
the  heaven-daring  sin  of  rejecting  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  as  offered  to  them  in  the  gospel.  Those  who 
have  obtained  relief,  have  scriptural  views  of  the 
moral  character  of  God,  of  the  method  of  salvation 
through  a  Redeemer,  of  the  sufficiency  of  his  atone- 
ment, and  the  way  in  which  God  can  be  just  and  all 
his  attributes  remain  unspotted  in  saving  sinners  ac- 
cording to  the  new  covenant.  They  appear  to  acqui- 
esce in  the  method  of  salvation  through  Christ,  mak- 
ing a  full,  free,  and  hearty  surrender  of  themselves 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  193 

to  God  and  his  service,  embracing  Christ  as  their 
prophet,  priest,  and  king,  under  a  deep  sense  of  their 
need  of  him  in  all  these  offices,  and  of  their  entire 
unworthiness  of  the  least  favor  at  his  hand. 

"  The  fruits  and  effects  of  this  work  evidence  it 
to  be  of  God.  Those  whose  tongues  were  dumb  have 
learned  to  speak  the  language  of  Canaan.  Those 
who  were  formerly  Sabbath-breakers,  scoffing  at  sa- 
cred things,  and  guilty  of  other  immoralities,  have 
not  only  forsaken  their  former  evil  practices,  but 
have  become  regular  and  sober,  diligently  attending 
the  ordinances  of  God's  house,  and  conscientiously 
performing  the  duties  of  religion.  Those  who  once 
depended  upon  their  own  attainments  and  good  works 
for  acceptance  with  God,  have  renounced  all  for  the 
righteousness  of  Christ.  Those  who  formerly  delight- 
ed in  carnal  company,  merry  jests,  profane  songs,  and 
foolish  and  vain  conversation,  now  seek  the  company 
of  them  who  fear  God,  and  delight  in  holy  exercises 
and  spiritual  communion.  Those  who  formerly  attend- 
ed upon  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  either  as  idle 
spectators,  or  to  cavil  at  or  quarrel  with  it,  now 
attend  with  a  desire  to  know  their  duty,  to  enjoy 
communion  with  God,  and  receive  grace  and  strength 
from  him  to  enable  them  to  live  to  his  glory.  Many 
have,  in  the  most  solemn,  sweet,  and  affecting  manner, 
spoken  of  the  wisdom,  love,  and  glory  of  God  shining 
in  the  plan  of  salvation  through  Christ.  They  have 
also  lamented  their  ignorance  and  want  of  love  to  him, 
the  evil  of  their  hearts,  and  the  total  depravity  of 
their  natures — have  frequently  expressed  their  desire 
after  holiness  and  conformity  to  God,  and  their  ten- 
Rev.  Sketches  9 


194  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

der  concern  for  his  cause  and  tlie  salvation  of  sinners. 
In  short,  many  evidence  a  sweet,  solemn,  and  humble 
disposition,  equal  to  any  thing  we  have  ever  witness- 
ed in  young  converts.  About  one  hundred  have  been 
admitted  to  the  church." 

K-evivals  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  about  1800. 

The  "  Great  Revival  of  1800"  is  as  well  known 
in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  as  in  the  Atlantic  states. 
Dr.  Davidson,  in  his  history  of  the  state  of  the  church- 
es in  Kentucky,  says : 

"  On  the  eve  of  the  nineteenth  century,  notwith- 
standing the  increase  of  ministers  and  churches,  the 
prospect  was  sufficiently  gloomy  to  appall  both  the 
Christian  and  the  patriot.  The  population  of  the 
state  advanced  with  incredible  rapidity,  and  soon 
outstripped  the  supply  of  the  means  of  grace.  World- 
ly-mindedness,  infidelity,  and  dissipation  threatened 
to  deluge  the  land,  and  sweep  away  all  vestiges  of 
piety  and  morality.  The  rising  generation  were 
growing  up  in  almost  universal  ignorance  of  religious 
obligation.  The  elder  church-members  were  gradu- 
ally dying  off,  and  were  replaced  by  no  recruits  from 
the  ranks  of  the  young.  Except  a  little  Goshen  here 
and  there,  the  shadow  of  night  was  gathering  over 
the  land.  At  this  juncture,  when  hope  was  ready 
to  expire,  an  unlooked-for  and  astonishing  change 
suddenly  took  place.  This  event  was  the  Great 
Revival  of  1800,  so  called  from  its  wide  extent  and 
influence,  and  which,  after  all  necessary  allowances 
for  the  disorders  which  deformed  it,  was,  beyond 
controversy,  attended  with  signal  benefits.  A  pre- 
paratory work  had  been  going  on  for  some  time  prr  - 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  195 

vious.  The  zealous  labors  of  the  Virginia  missiona- 
ries, and  others  of  the  younger  clergy,  were  not  with- 
out effect,  and  there  was  yet  a  remnant  in  the  land, 
that  had  neither  bowed  the  knee  to  mammon  nor 
Thomas  Paine.  An  unusual  attention  to  religion  had 
been  awakened  in  the  south-western  section  of  the 
state,  in  what  was  known  as  the  Green  River  country, 
and  the  Cumberland  settlements,  a  year  or  two 
previous." 

A  record  of  the  Baptist  churches  in  Kentucky 
states,  that  "in  the  remarkable  outpourings  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  from  1799  to  1803,  in  most  parts  of  our 
land,  among  different  denominations,  about  ten  thou- 
sand were  added  to  the  Baptist  churches  within  that 
state,  who  gave  evidence  of  genuine  conversion." 

Of  Rev.  Robert  Donnell,  one  of  the  fathers  of  the 
Cumberland  Presbyterian  church,  who  early  entered 
on  itinerant  labors  in  Tennessee  and  North  Alabama, 
and  preached  the  gospel  with  fidelity  and  success  for 
nearly  fifty  years,  his  biographer  says,  "  He  professed 
religion  in  the  year  1800,  in  that  ever  memorable 
revival  of  pure  experimental  religion  in  which  the 
Cumberland  Presbyterian  church  had  its  origin." 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  in  this  revival,  elsewhere 
so  free  from  nervous  excitement,  there  were,  in  parts 
of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  extraordinary  "bodily 
exercises,"  called  the  jerks,  falling  down,  etc.,  in  the 
meetings,  which  the  enlightened  friends  of  the  work 
lamented,  and  which  excited  its  enemies  to  ridicule 
and  blaspheme.  But  it  must  be  remembered,  that 
these  physical  agitations  took  place  at  the  large 
camp-meetings,  in  which  were  gathered  all  the  ele- 


196  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

ments  of  excitement  from  every  quarter,  and  which 
were  continued  day  and  night,  till  the  consequent 
exhaustion  of  the  multitudes  in  a  great  measure  took 
away  the  power  of  self-control.  These  remarkable 
phenomena  by  no  means  proved  that  it  was  all  fanat- 
icism and  delusion.  There  were  beyond  question 
many  true  conversions. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Cleland  wrote,  in  1834,  after  wit- 
nessing the  fruits  of  this  work  for  more  than  thirty 
years,  "  The  work  at  first  was  no  doubt  a  glorious 
work  of  God.  Many  within  my  knowledge  became 
hopefully  pious,  the  most  of  whom  continue  unto  this 
present,  and  many  have  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus.  The 
number  of  apostates  was  much  fewer  than  I  sup- 
posed." 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Alexander  said  of  that  work, 
"  Many  facts  which  occurred  at  the  close  of  the  revi- 
val were  of  such  a  nature  that  judicious  men  were 
fully  persuaded  that  there  was  much  that  was  wrong 
in  the  manner  of  conducting  the  work,  and  that  an 
erratic  and  enthusiastic  spirit  prevailed  to  a  lament- 
able extent.  It  is  not  doubted,  however,  that  the 
Spirit  of  God  was  really  poured  out,  and  that  many 
sincere  converts  were  made,  especially  in  the  com- 
mencement of  the  revival;  but  too  much  indulgence 
was  given  to  a  heated  imagination,  and  too  much 
stress  was  laid  on  the  bodily  affections  which  accom- 
panied the  work,  as  though  they  were  supernatural 
phenomena,  intended  to  arouse  the  attention  of  the 
careless  world." 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  191 

EEY.  DR.  DWIGHT,  YALE  COLLEGE— REFLECTIONS 
ON  THE  WORK  ABOUT   1800. 

I  have  reserved  for  this  place  the  name  of  one 
whom  the  churches  delighted  to  honor,  Dr.  Timothy 
DwiGHT,  president  of  Yale  college,  a  fast  friend  of 
revivals,  as  well  as  a  renowned  and  beloved  teacher 
of  the  young  men  who  resorted  to  that  institution  for 
classical  education. 

To  go  a  little  further  back,  when  Dr.  Dwight 
came  into  office,  in  1795,  many  of  the  leading  stu- 
dents in  the  several  classes  were  deeply  tinctured 
with  French  infidelity,  and  its  bold  champions  were 
not  backward  to  encounter  the  new  president,  at  the 
first  favorable  opportunity.  This  was  soon  granted 
them,  in  a  discussion  before  him  involving  the  truth 
and  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures.  They  mustered  all 
their  force,  and  anticipated  a  signal  victory.  The 
day  came  in  the  class-room.  It  was  a  mortal  onset 
for  them,  but  a  proud  day  for  the  college.  In  the 
summing  up,  he  so  scathingly  exposed  their  ignorance, 
and  so  triumphantly  overthrew  them  at  every  point, 
that  they  never  wanted  to  measure  weapons  with  him 
again.  From  that  hour  infidelity  lost  its  prestige  in 
Yale  college,  and  has  never  dared  openly  to  show  its 
head  since.  The  victory  was  an  incalculable  gain  to 
the  cause  of  religion  in  that  popular  seat  of  learning, 
and  through  the  agency  of  its  graduates  who  entered 
the  ministry.  It  enthroned  the  president  in  the  con- 
fidence of  the  students,  and  prepared  them  to  listen 
with  new  interest  to  his  admirable  discourses  from 
the  pulpit,  which,  as  professor  of  divinity,  he  preached 
in  the  college  chapel  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath,  dur- 


198  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

ing  the  period  of  his  presidency.  It  was  morally  im- 
possible to  sit  four  years  under  such  preaching,  so 
convincing  in  argument,  so  solemn  and  earnest  in 
appeal,  and  so  eloquent  in  delivery,  without  being 
instructed  and  profited,  at  least  in  some  degree. 

Nothing  very  remarkable,  however,  took  place,  till 
the  spring  and  summer  of  1802,  when  the  revival,  in 
its  triumphant  progress  on  the  right  hand  and  the 
left,  reached  Yale  college;  and  there  it  came  with 
such  power  as  had  never  been  witnessed  within  those 
walls  before.  It  was  in  the  Freshman  year  of  my  own 
class.  It  was  like  a  mighty  rushing  wind.  The  whole 
college  was  shaken.  It  seemed  for  a  time  as  if  the 
whole  mass  of  the  students  would  press  into  the  king- 
dom. It  was  the  Lord's  doing,  and  marvellous  in  all 
eyes.     Oh,  what  a  blessed  change ! 

As  the  fruit  of  this  revival,  so  memorable  in  the 
history  of  the  institution,  fifty-eight  were  added  to 
the  college  church,  and  others,  I  know  not  how  many, 
joined  the  churches  at  home.  It  was  a  glorious  ref- 
ormation. It  put  a  new  face  upon  the  college.  It 
sent  a  thrill  of  joy  and  thanksgiving  far  and  wide 
into  the  hearts  of  its  friends,  who  had  been  praying 
that  the  waters  of  salvation  might  be  poured  into  the 
fountain  from  which  so  many  streams  were  annually 
sent  out. 

The  triennial  catalogue  shows,  that  for  many  years 
there  had  been  but  very  few  in  the  seminary  prepar- 
ing for  the  pulpit.  In  the  four  preceding  classes, 
only  thirteen  names  of  ministers  stand  against  sixty- 
nine  in  the  next  four  years ;  nearly  if  not  quite  all  of 
them  brought  in  by  the  great  revival. 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  199 

Thus  we  see  how  dark  were  the  prospects  of  the 
churches  when  it  commenced.  Only  thirteen  from  the 
college  in  four  years ;  less  than  fmir  in  a  year,  and 
that  when  there  were  but  two  or  three  other  colleges 
in  the  country,  from  which  any  additional  supplies 
could  be  expected. 

It  was  indeed  the  bright  dawn  of  a  new  Christian 
epoch,  when  the  heavens  were  opened,  and  poured 
down  righteousness  upon  Yale  college,  and  upon 
scores  of  churches ;  and  I  may  venture  to  say,  that 
the  influence  of  those  revivals  upon  the  cause  of  vital 
religion  at  home  and  abroad,  has  already  surpassed 
the  most  sanguine  hopes  of  those  who  witnessed  and 
rejoiced  in  them. 

At  that  time,  when  a  student  was  converted  in 
college,  or  before  he  entered,  it  was  taken  for  granted 
by  everybody,  that  he  intended  to  devote  his  life  to 
the  service  of  Christ  in  the  gospel.  It  was  so  at 
Yale,  in  the  revival  of  1802.  I  cannot  call  to  mind 
a  single  convert  who  did  not  at  once  ask, '  Lord,  what 
wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ?'  and  who  did  not  set  his 
heart  upon  becoming  a  preacher.  Nearly  all  of  them, 
as  the  catalogue  shows,  entered  the  ministry.  The 
exceptions  were  very  few,  and  mainly  from  causes 
which  they  could  not  control.  How  different,  alas, 
from  what  w-e  witness  now !  If  one-half  of  the  grad- 
uates from  our  colleges  who  profess  religion  enter 
the  ministry,  it  is  about  as  much  as  the  churches  and 
a  perishing  world  are  allowed  to  expect.  I  bless 
God  it  was  not  so  then.  Had  it  been,  what  a  loss  to 
the  cause  for  which  Christ  shed  his  blood.    And  who 


200  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

^\^ill  say  that  the  demand  for  good  ministers  is  less 
now,  than  it  was  then  ? 

And  why  this  great  falling  off?  It  is  not  because 
souls  are  less  precious,  or  less  in  danger  of  perishing, 
in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  than  they 
were  at  the  beginning.  Is  it  because  young  men  ob- 
tain hopes  easier  under  the  preaching  of  the  present 
day,  than  they  did  under  the  ministry  of  Hyde,  Griffin, 
Hallock,  and  their  contemporaries,  who  were  so  emi- 
nently doctrinal  in  their  discourses?  I  cannot  help 
thinking  it  is,  at  least  in  part.  As  he  loveth  much 
to  whom  much  is  forgiven,  so  he  who  has  most  deeply 
felt  the  plague  of  his  own  heart,  and  the  justice  of 
his  condemnation  under  discriminating  preaching — ^he 
who  has  most  deeply  felt  his  own  perishing  need  of  a 
Saviour — ^will  feel  more  constrained  by  the  love  of 
Christ  to  enter  the  ministry,  that  if  possible  he  may 
save  some  who  are  under  the  same  condemnation, 
than  if  the  terrors  of  death  had  not  taken  hold  upon 
him  when  he  was  passing  through  the  deep  waters. 
Such  were  the  preachers  who  came  out  of  the  revi- 
vals now  under  review,  and  who  were  to  carry  for- 
ward the  work  when  the  fathers  had  fallen  asleep. 
They  knew  what  truths  had  taken  the  deepest  hold 
of  their  own  minds,  and  made  them  the  basis  of  their 
ministry. 

Whatever  view  we  can  take  of  the  work  of  God 
at  the  beginning  of  this  century,  it  was  a  glorious 
period  in  the  religious  history  of  the  country.  The 
apostasies  have  been  comparatively  few,  and  besides 
their  rich  harvests  in  gathering  souls  to  Christ,  those 
revivals  stand  connected,  in  the  history  of  Redemp- 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  201 

tion,  with  those  aggressive  agencies  by  which  He  is 
now  turning  our  own  moral  wildernesses  into  fruitful 
fields,  and  sending  the  gospel  to  all  heathen  lands. 

When  that  era  dawned,  there  were  no  Missionary- 
societies,  foreign  or  domestic,  no  Bible  societies,  no 
Tract  societies,  no  Education  societies,  no  onward 
movements  in  the  churches  of  any  sort,  for  the  con- 
version of  the  world.  At  home  it  was  deep  spiritual 
apathy ;  abroad,  over  all  the  heathen  lands,  the  calm 
of  the  Dead  sea — death,  death,  nothing  but  death. 

All  the  first  foreign  missionaries,  Hall,  Newell, 
Mills,  Judson,  Nott,  Rice,  Bingham,  King,  Thurston, 
and  others  who  entered  the  field  a  little  later,  were 
converted  and  received  their  missionary  baptism  in 
that  revival.  The  American  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions was  formed  in  1810,  at  the  urgency  of  the  first 
band  that  went  out  from  this  country  to  India.  But 
for  their  earnest  solicitation  to  be  sent  forth  with  the 
glad  tidings  of  the  gospel  upon  their  tongjies,  no  such 
Board  would  have  been  formed ;  certainly  not  at  that 
time ;  and  if  it  had,  it  could  not  have  done  any  thing : 
there  would  have  been  no  missionaries  to  send,  if  God 
had  not  poured  out  his  Spirit,  and  raised  them  up 
and  prepared  them  to  endure  hardness  as  good  sol- 
diers of  Jesus  Christ.  In  these  revivals  the  holy  fire 
was  kindled,  and  waked  up  and  warmed  the  churches 
to  an  onward  aggressive  movement,  such  as  had  never 
been  known  in  this  country  before.  Other  missiona- 
ries soon  followed  under  the  same  Board.  And  about 
the  same  time,  the  Baptist  Foreign  Mission  Board 
was  organized  to  sustain  Judson  and  Rice  who  had 
joined  their  communion,  and  commenced  a  mission  in 

9* 


202  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

Burmah,  which  has  become  one  of  the  most  prosperous 
missions  of  the  present  age.  And  now,  behold  what 
from  these  small  and  feeble  beginnings  God  has 
wrought,  in  the  four  quarters  of  the  world,  and  the 
isles  of  the  Gentiles. 

From  the  same  revival  source  sprang  home  mis- 
sions. It  began  to  be  felt,  we  have  a  wide  and  fast 
spreading  population  within  our  own  borders  that 
must  be  cared  for,  and  then  domestic  missionary  so- 
cieties were  formed  to  meet  the  want. 

Nor  was  this  enough.  The  churches  having  once 
waked  up  from  their  long  slumbers,  could  not  rest 
here.  The  destitute  at  home  must  have  the  word  of 
God  put  into  their  hands,  and  it  must  be  sent  abroad 
with  the  missionaries,  and  translated  into  the  tongues 
wherein  the  heathen  were  born,  that  they  might  read 
the  wonderful  works  of  God  and  be  turned  from  dark- 
ness to  light,  from  the  worship  of  dumb  idols  to 
the  worship  of  Him  who  made  the  world.  Hence 
sprang  the  American  Bible  Society,  and  in  succession 
its  hundreds  of  branches  and  kindred  institutions,  that 
are  now  preparing  and  distributing  the  bread  of  life 
from  one  end  of  the  earth  to  the  other. 

Nor  yet  again  could  the  yearnings  of  Christian 
benevolence,  once  excited,  rest  without  still  further 
expansion.  A  Christian  literature,  in  a  cheap  and 
attractive  form,  must  be  created  and  diffused.  Small 
religious  tracts  must  be  written,  printed,  and  scatter- 
ed over  the  land ;  to  this  end  Tract  Societies  must  be 
organized,  funds  must  be  raised,  and  the  press  be  en- 
listed. It  was  done,  and  through  this  ever  active  and 
all-pervading  agency,  what  hath  God  wrought  I 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  203 

Having  proceeded  thus  far  with  these  aggressions 
upon  the  kingdom  of  darkness,  was  there  any  thing 
more  to  be  done  to  pour  into  it  the  light  of  heaven? 
Yes,  a  great  deal  more,  and  through  many  other 
kindred  .agencies.  So  the  Sabbath-school  Union  was 
formed.  The  Colored  population,  and  the  Sailors 
must  be  cared  for,  the  ravages  of  Intemperance  must 
be  arrested  on  the  land  and  on  the  sea. 

Thus  the  glorious  cause  of  religion  and  philan- 
thropy has  advanced,  till  it  would  require  a  space 
which  cannot  be  afforded  in  these  sketches,  so  much 
as  to  name  the  Christian  and  humane  societies  which 
have  sprung  up  all  over  the  land  within  the  last  forty 
years.  Exactly  how  much  we  at  home  and  the  world 
abroad  are  indebted  for  these  organizations,  so  rich 
in  blessings,  to  the  revivals  of  1800,  it  is  impossible 
to  say,  though  much  every  way — more  than  enough 
to  magnify  the  grace  of  God  in  the  instruments  he 
employed,  in  the  immediate  fruits  of  their  labors,  and 
the  subsequent  harvests  springing  froiu  the  good  seed 
which  was  sown  by  the  men  whom  God  delighted 
thus  to  honor. 

It  cannot  be  denied,  that  modern  missions  sprung 
out  of  those  revivals.  The  immediate  connection 
between  them  as  cause  and  effect,  was  remarkably 
clear  in  the  organization  of  the  first  societies,  which 
have  since  accomplished  so  much;  and  the  impulse 
which  they  gave  to  the  churches  to  extend  the  bless- 
ings which  they  were  diffusing,  by  forming  the  later 
affiliated  societies  of  like  aims  and  character,  is 
scarcely  less  obvious.  Taken  altogether,  the  revival 
period  at  the  close  of  the  last  century  and  the  begin- 


20-i  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

ning  of  the  present,  furnishes  ample  materials  for  a 
long  and  glorious  chapter  in  the  History  of  Redemp- 
tion. 

What  if  the  Spirit  had  not  been  poured  out  when 
it  was  so  greatly  needed,  after  the  long  spiritual 
drought  under  which  the  land  was  suffering?  Or 
what  if  a  different  character  had  been  stamped  upon 
the  revival  by  ignorant  and  fanatical  preachers? 
What  if  Dwight  and  Griffin  and  the  other  ministers 
of  the  day,  whose  testimony  we  have  in  these  sketches, 
had  made  it  an  easy  matter  for  sinners  to  repent  and 
gain  a  hope,  instead  of  holding  up  before  them  the 
character  of  God,  the  strictness,  justice,  and  terrible 
penalty  of  his  law,  the  entire  and  dreadful  depravity 
of  their  hearts,  the  absolute  sovereignty  of  God  in 
having  mercy  on  whom  he  will  have  mercy,  regenera- 
tion by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  justification  by  faith 
alone — what  would  have  been  the  fruits?  Under 
smooth,  superficial  preaching,  there  might  have  been 
some  real  converts ;  but  as  the  late  Rev.  Daniel  A. 
Clark  says  in  one  of  his  printed  sermons,  "They 
would  not  have  known  when  they  were  converted, 
WHO  converted  them,  or  what  they  were  converted 
for."  There  is  no  reason  to  think,  I  am  sure,  that 
under  any  preaching  that  "heals  the  hurt  slightly," 
the  revivals,  if  they  had  taken  place  at  all,  would 
have  filled  and  strengthened  the  churches  by  their 
thoroughness  and  the  ripeness  of  their  fruits,  or  their 
influence  upon  the  age  and  the  world,  as  those  of 
which  I  have  been  speaking  did.  They  went  down 
into  the  depths  of  the  soul,  searched  out  all  the 
deceitful  hiding-places  of  its  enmity  against  God,  and 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  205 

brought  the  sinner  helpless  and  self-condemned  to  the 
foot  of  the  cross. 

I  have  dwelt  longer  upon  the  revival  epoch  which 
opened  in  our  own  land  at  the  commencement  of  this 
century,  than  upon  any  that  preceded  it,  because  I 
was  then  upon  the  stage,  and  passed  through  those 
remarkable  years  of  the  right  hand  of  the  Most  High, 
so  that  I  can  speak  what  I  do  know,  and  testify  what 
I  have  seen ;  because  I  think  the  work  was  freer  from 
objectionable  drawbacks,  and  a  greater  proportion  of 
those  who  obtained  hopes  held  out  to  the  end,  than  in 
"  the  great  awakening,"  or  any  preceding  revival  since 
the  Reformation;  because  there  was  so  little  of  'Lo 
here,  and  Lo  there,'  to  divert  men's  minds  from  the 
state  of  their  own  hearts,  and  their  absolute  depend- 
ence upon  the  Spirit  of  God  to  work  in  them  by  his 
renewing  and  sanctifying  power ;  and  because  it  stir^ 
red  up  the  churches  to  aggressive  action  upon  the 
country  and  the  world,  through  the  combined  instru- 
mentality of  missionary  and  other  kindred  societies, 
as  no  former  revival  had  ever  done. 

In  looking  back  fifty  years  and  more,  the  great 
revival  of  that  period  strikes  me,  in  its  thoroughness, 
in  its  depth,  in  its  freedom  from  animal,  unhealthy 
excitement,  and  in  its  far-reaching  influence  on  sub- 
sequent revivals,  as  having  been  decidedly  in  advance 
of  any  that  had  preceded  it.  It  was  the  opening  of  a 
new  revival  epoch  which  has  lasted  now  more  than 
half  a  century,  with  but  short  and  partial  interrup- 
tions— and  blessed  be  God,  the  end  is  not  yet.  In  the 
next  chapter  I  shall  resume  the  subject,  and  bring 
these  sketches  down  to  the  present  time. 


REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  REVIVAL  EPOCH  ABOUT  1800— 

CONTINUED. 

The  great  Revival  of  1800,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
so  quiet  and  orderly  and  free  from  objections,  there 
were  so  many  demonstrable  proofs  of  the  mighty 
power  of  God  in  arresting  and  converting  men  of 
all  classes,  infidels,  universalists,  drunkards,  profane 
swearers,  as  well  as  multitudes  of  others,  and  there 
was  so  marked  a  change  for  the  better  in  the  state 
of  society,  that  nobody  could  help  seeing  it.  In  some 
respects,  as  I  have  already  shown,  its  distinctive  char- 
acteristics were  quite  different  from  the  Great  Awak- 
ening sixty  years  before,  under  Edwards,  Whitefield, 
and  their  fellow-laborers  of  like  precious  faith.  As 
there  were  no  such  outbursts  of  high- wrought  animal 
excitement  as  often  disturbed  public  worship  then, 
so  no  such  fanatical  divisions  supervened,  to  rend  the 
churches  and  bring  reproach  upon  the  cause.  No 
itinerants,  flaming  with  zeal  not  according  to  know- 
ledge, now  sprung  up  to  distract  the  churches,  grieve 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  bring  into  discredit  all  revivals. 
On  the  contrary,  the  most  sceptical  were  constrained 
to  say,  "  This  is  the  finger  of  God.  It  can't  be  man's 
work.  What  we  have  witnessed  is  utterly  beyond 
all  human  power  to  accomplish."  They  may  not  have 
been  converted,  though  some  of  them  were,  but  their 
mouths  were  shut. 

For  some  years  after  the  revivals  recorded  in  the 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  207 

last  chapter,  though  the  work  was  not  so  general  as 
at  the  going  out  of  the  last,  and  the  coming  in  of  the 
present  century,  yet  there  were  many  revivals  of 
the  same  marks  of  genuineness,  showing  that  God 
had  not  shut  up  the  heavens,  but  was  waiting  to  be 
more  earnestly  inquired  of,  again  to  come  down  and 
multiply  the  trophies  of  redeeming  love.  So  that, 
when  God  again  more  copiously  poured  out  his  Spirit, 
it  was  not  marked  as  a  new  epoch,  but  the  same  con- 
tinued and  extended. 

It  was  in  that  interval  of  partial  suspension,  that 
by  the  grace  of  God,  I  was  permitted  to  enter  the  min- 
istry. I  was  ordained  and  settled  in  1807,  and  by 
the  help  of  God  I  continue  unto  this  day  to  witness 
what  I  have  seen,  and  to  give  a  brief  sketch  of  the 
revivals  in  this  country  for  the  last  fifty  years.  Yery 
brief  it  must  be,  to  leave  room  for  the  Manual  in  the 
second  part  of  this  volume.  This  I  regret  the  less, 
because  if  I  had  ever  so  much  space,  the  narratives 
are  so  recent  and  so  ample,  and  are  to  be  found  in  so 
many  volumes  within  the  reach  of  all  who  take  an 
interest  in  the  advancement  of  the  Redeemer's  king- 
dom, that  not  much  enlargement  seems  to  be  called 
for.  Brief  sketches  are  now  more  likely  to  be  read, 
I  think,  than  many  repetitions  of  minute  narratives, 
as  repetitions  to  a  great  extent  they  must  needs  be, 
where  the  phases  of  revivals  are  substantially  alike. 

About  1814,  as  near  as  I  can  fix  the  date,  from 
my  own  recollection  and  the  helps  before  me,  the 
clouds,  laden  with  their  rich  refreshings,  began  again 
to  gather  over  more  of  the  churches.  Those  who  kept 
near  the  throne  in  prayer,  and  had  wisdom  to  discern 


^08  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

the  signs  of  the  times,  began  to  expect  great  things, 
and  they  were  not  disappointed.  It  was  as  if  the 
Saviour  had  said,  "  Ye  shall  see  greater  things  than 
these."  Not  greater  displays  of  divine  power  than 
they  had  witnessed  in  the  revivals  a  few  years  before 
at  the  opening  of  the  century,  but  in  their  longer  con- 
tinuance, if  not  in  their  wider  extent. 

Many  of  the  converts  in  these  first  revivals  were 
now  entering  the  ministry,  and  a  few  of  them  remain 
even  unto  this  day.  The  rest  have  fallen  asleep. 
I  believe  that  not  far  from  four-fifths  of  the  younger 
pastors  of  evangelical  churches,  who  were  especially 
blessed  during  the  succeeding  twenty  years,  were 
themselves  converted  under  the  labors  of  Dwight, 
Alexander,  Hyde,  Griffin,  Hallock,  Mills,  and  their 
contemporaries,  many  of  whose  names  I  have  given  in 
a  former  chapter.  They  of  course  came  out  of  the 
best  schools  for  learning  what  a  genuine  revival  is, 
and  what  preaching  is  most  blessed  in  carrying  on  the 
work.  When  they  came  into  the  same  care  of  souls, 
they  would  naturally  refer  back  to  their  own  experi- 
ence and  observation,  when  the  arrows  of  conviction 
were  piercing  their  own  consciences,  and  the  inquiry, 
What  must  we  do  to  be  saved  ?  was  sounding  in  their 
ears.  They  could  not  help  it.  They  would  adopt  the 
same  style  of  preaching,  and  substantially  the  same 
other  means,  as  they  had  felt  and  witnessed  to  be 
mighty  through  God  to  the  pulling  down  of  strong- 
holds ;  and  in  reviewing  the  history  and  results  of  their 
labors  in  winning  souls,  we  should  be  disappointed 
not  to  find  the  same  image  and  superscription  en- 
stamped  upon  the  revivals  under  their  own  ministry. 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  209 

How  far  this  expectation  lias  been  realized,  will 
appear  as  I  proceed  with  these  sketches. 

If  I  do  not  name  so  many  of  this  second  genera- 
tion of  revival  preachers  in  our  current  century,  nor 
dwell  so  long  and  specifically  upon  their  labors,  as  I 
have  done  in  the  earlier  period,  it  is  not  because  I 
think  them  inferior  in  talents  and  ministerial  gifts  to 
their  fathers,  nor  that  I  think  them,  as  a  body,  de- 
serving of  less  honor  in  their  Master's  service,  but 
because  of  their  relative  position  and  antecedents. 
The  pioneers  in  any  important  era  of  human  advance- 
ment are  of  course  more  prominent  on  the  historic 
page,  than  those  who  are  taught  by  them  to  follow 
in  the  same  line  and  carry  out  their  plans  and  prin- 
ciples, though  the  latter  may  be  as  much  devoted  to 
the  cause  as  the  former.  So  here,  though  the  dis- 
ciples may  not  have  been  a  whit  behind  their  masters 
in  piety,  in  zeal,  or  in  ministerial  qualifications  to 
serve  Christ  in  the  gospel,  entering  as  they  did  into 
the  labors  of  their  predecessors  and  teachers,  the 
less  need  be  said  of  their  labors  and  success  in  the 
same  fields. 

With  few  exceptions,  like  their  fathers  they  did 
most  of  the  work  themselves.  They  recognized  the 
scripture  distinction  between  pastors  and  evangelists, 
and  rejoiced  that  the  great  Head  of  the  church  was 
raising  up  and  sending  out  evangelists  to  preach  the 
gospel  and  plant  churches  in  our  new  and  destitute 
settlements;  but  they  did  not  seek  much  aid  from 
preachers  without  charge,  since  familiarly  called  revi- 
valists. 

At  the  same  time  they  were  glad  of  such  assist- 


210  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

ance  as  God  in  his  wisdom  might  please  to  send  them. 
And  as  he  in  a  former  age  raised  up  George  White- 
field  to  help  the  pastors  wherever  he  went,  and  they 
received  him,  so  I  must  here  record  the  grace  of  God 
in  raising  up,  and  so  eminently  qualifying  Asahel 
Nettleton,  to  perform  a  similar  service  over  a  wide 
region  where  the  revivals  of  which  I  am  now  to  speak 
most  remarkably  prevailed.  If  there  were  others 
who  were  equally  devoted,  judicious,  and  helpful  to 
pastors,  I  did  not  know  them,  and  must  leave  it  for 
those  who  did  to  name  them.  Mr.  Nettleton's  labors 
were  so  widely  extended,  so  long  continued,  and  so 
remarkably  blessed,  that  it  would  be  impossible  for 
me,  in  my  sketches  of  this  period,  not  to  refer  to  him 
often,  as  holding  a  high  place  among  those  whom  God 
was  pleased  to  honor  in  the  conversion  of  souls.  Pres- 
ident Dwight,  whose  pupil  he  was,  and  who  knew 
him  well,  is  reported  to  have  said,  "  Nettleton  will 
make  one  of  the  most  useful  men  this  country  has 
ever  seen."  Of  course,  in  the  inspired  sense  of  the 
term,  this  was  not  prophetic ;  but  Dr.  Dwight  was 
justly  celebrated  for  his  remarkable  penetration  of 
young  men's  talents  and  character.  His  judgment 
seemed  to  be  almost  intuitive,  and  it  seldom  failed. 

If  there  has  been,  since  the  days  of  the  mighty 
elders  in  the  Great  Awakening,  a  preacher  more  suc- 
cessful in  winning  souls  to  Christ  within  the  same 
number  of  years,  than  Nettleton,  I  have  yet  to  learn 
his  name,  and  what  he  did.  I  cannot  refer  to  all  the 
places  where  Mr.  Nettleton  labored,  nor  give  the  exact 
number,  but  it  was  very  large — scores,  I  believe,  where 
the  revivals  were  very  powerful,  and  most  of  which 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  211 

sprung  up  in  immediate  connection  with  his  untiring 
labors.  Wherever  he  went,  as  his  Memoir  and  Re- 
mains by  Dr.  Tyler  show,  the  Lord  went  with  him, 
working  mightily  in  turning  men  from  darkness  to 
light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God.  His 
great  experience  in  revivals,  his  deep  penetration 
of  the  workings  of  the  human  heart  in  all  the  stages 
of  awakening  and  conviction,  and  with  all  its  con- 
flicting exercises  up  to  a  comfortable  hope  in  Christ, 
gave  him  an  advantage,  of  which  he  availed  himself 
to  the  full  extent  of  his  powers,  which  I  am  persuaded 
has  rarely  if  ever  been  surpassed,  and  seldom  equalled 
in  these  modern  times. 

I  verily  believe  that  no  great  warrior  ever  stud- 
ied military  tactics  with  more  enthusiasm,  or  better 
understood  the  art  of  killing  men  with  the  sword  of 
war,  then  Nettleton  did  how  to  wield  the  sword  of 
the  Spirit,  to  deliver  them  from  captivity  to  sin  and 
Satan,  and  save  their  souls.  I  am  sure  no  warrior 
ever  studied  his  art  under  so  great  a  Teacher.  No 
matter  whether  Nettleton  had  ever  met  an  inquirer  or 
caviller  before  or  not,  he  seemed  to  see  just  where 
he  stood,  and  how  to  address  him  at  a  glance.  If  all 
revivalists  had  the  talent  and  wisdom  and  piety  and 
meekness  and  deep  Christian  experience  which  he 
had,  pastors  with  more  work  than  they  can  do  when 
God  is  pouring  out  his  Spirit  might  safely  receive 
them  with  open  arms.  But  the  ability  to  do  what  he 
did  as  a  helper,  and  do  it  so  well,  is  granted  to  very 
few.  It  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  services  in  which 
an  itinerant  popular  preacher  ever  engaged,  to  go  in 
and  labor  with  pastors  of  ordinary  standing,  in  revi- 


Sia  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

vals.  It  requires  wisdom,  prudence,  and  self  forget- 
fulness,  which  very  few  of  that  class  possess,  so  as  not 
to  do  quite  as  much  harm  as  good,  by  throwing  the 
j  ministers  whom  they  came  to  assist  into  the  back- 
1  ground.  Many  a  faithful  pastor  has  been  undermin- 
ed and  dismissed,  unintentionally  we  must  believe,  to 
the  great  loss  of  the  church,  just  in  this  way.  Not 
so  with  Nettleton.     Wherever  he  labored,  he  left  the 

^  churches  and  their  ministers  stronger  and  more  united 
than  he  found  them.  This  was  the  universal  testi- 
mony. I  never  knew  or  heard  of  an  exception.  Most 
manifest  was  it,  that  God  had  raised  him  up  and  kept 
him  in  this  land  for  that  very  service,  when  he  had 
set  his  heart  upon  a  foreign  mission.  He  labored 
with  me  three  months  in  the  most  powerful  revival 
that  we  ever  enjoyed,  and  for  whatever  I  know  of  the 
means  which  God  has  been  wont  especially  to  bless 
in  reviving  his  work,  I  am  more  indebted  to  him 
than  to  any  other  man,  more  than  to  all  others  put 
together.  How  he  was  regarded  by  other  pastors 
with  whom  he  labored,  we  shall  see  in  their  letters 
and  narratives  as  we  proceed. 

This  renewed  time  of  refreshing  in  the  current 
century  commenced,  as  I  have  said,  about  1814,  and 

•  as  nearly  as  I  am  able  to  fix  the  dates,  continued 
about  thirty  years,  when  the  ways  of  Zion  again  went 
into  mourning  for  a  brief  period,  till  the  spirit  of 
prayer  was  remarkably  poured  out  upon  the  cities  of 
New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  many  other  places,  a 
little  more  than  a  year  ago,  of  which  more  in  its 
place. 

From  1814  to  1845,  the  spiritual  harvests  were 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  213 

more  productive  in  some  years  than  others — in  some 
thirty-fold,  in  some  sixty,  and  in  some  a  hundred — a 
period  which  will  ever  be  referred  to  as  one  of  the 
most  extraordinary  hitherto  in  the  religious  history 
of  our  country.  Not  tens,  nor  scores,  but  hundreds 
of  churches  and  congregations  shared  in  those  copious 
outpourings  of  the  Spirit.  We  began  to  hope  that 
these  showers  would  henceforth  continue  to  pour 
down  righteousness,  without  any  such  intermissions 
as  had  so  often  occurred.  Oh,  it  would  be  delightful 
to  take  a  full  survey  of  the  great  field  while  Christ 
was  so  gloriously  triumphing  everywhere,  and  to 
count  the  thronging  trophies  of  his  victories. 

But  my  limits  warn  me  to  confine  myself  to  briefer 
sketches.  The  narratives  of  the  revivals  during  the 
period  to  which  we  have  now  come,  if  they  had  all 
been  fully  written  out,  would  fill  many  volumes.  I 
have  enough  before  me  for  hundreds  of  pages ;  but 
all  that  I  can  do  is  to  make  a  few  selections  from  the 
mass,  which  is  the  less  to  be  regretted  as  the  essential 
leading  features  of  these  revivals,  spreading  over 
about  one4hird  of  the  century,  bore  such  striking 
resemblance,  that  to  multiply  testimonies  would  be  to 
repeat  nearly  the  same  things.  As  I  leave  out  vastly 
more  than  I  shall  put  in,  I  see  not  how  I  can  do 
better  than  to  insert  the  substance  of  a  few  of  these 
narratives,  and  then  glean  extracts  from  others  as 
they  come  in  my  way. 

From  Rev.  Grardiner  Spring,  D.D.,  New  York. 

Dr.  Spring,  in  his  closing  sermon  in  the  old  Brick 
church  in  Beekman-street,  May  25,  1856,  recounting 
the  dispensations  of  divine  grace  in  connection  with 


214  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

his  ministry,  which  commenced  August  8,  1810,  pro- 
ceeds to  say : 

"The  thought  has  no  doubt  often  crossed  the 
minds  of  reflecting  Christians,  that  those  who  have 
occupied  a  place  on  the  earth  during  the  last  fifty 
years,  have  lived  in  a  remarkable  age  of  the  world, 
not  only  as  it  respects  science  and  the  arts,  and  the 
progress  of  civil  society,  but  in  regard  to  the  cause 
of  vital  piety.  The  period,  commencing  with  the  year 
1792,  and  terminating  with  1842,  was  a  memorable 
period  in  the  history  of  the  American  church.  Scarce- 
ly any  portion  of  it,  but  was  graciously  visited  by 
copious  effusions  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  From  north  to 
south,  and  from  east  to  west,  our  male,  and  more 
especially  our  female  academies,  our  colleges,  and  our 
churches  drank  largely  of  this  fountain  of  living  wa- 
ters. It  was  my  privilege  to  enter  upon  the  course 
of  academical  life  not  far  from  the  meridian  of  this 
bright  day.  There  were  no  subjects  that  interested 
my  mind  more  deeply,  when  I  began  my  ministry 
among  this  people,  than  those  revivals  of  religion 
which  passed  over  the  land  of  my  boyhood.  This 
interest  increased  with  time  and  ofi&cial  labors  and 
responsibility,  and  exercised  a  most  important  influ- 
ence upon  my  whole  course.  Sparse  clouds  of  mercy 
had  been  hovering  over  the  congregation  during  the 
first  four  years  of  my  ministry,  and  not  a  few,  espec- 
ially of  those  in  middle  life,  had  been  brought  into 
the  kingdom  of  God. 

"The  year  1814  was  a  year  of  severe  labor  and 
deep  solicitude — as  it  drew  towards  its  close,  of  great 
discouragement  and  depression.     It  seemed  to  me 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  215 

that  I  must  abandon  my  post,  and  that  neither  my 
mind,  my  heart,  nor  my  health  were  adequate  to  its 
constantly  accumulating  duties.  My  intellectual  re- 
sources seemed  to  be  exhausted,  and  drained  dry. 
Many  a  time,  after  preaching,  did  I  remain  long  in 
the  pulpit,  that  I  might  not  encounter  the  faces  of  the 
people  as  I  left  the  church ;  and  many  a  time  when  I 
left  it  did  I  feel  that  I  could  never  preach  another 
sermon.  Yet  I  labored  on  week  after  week,  without 
discovering  to  what  extent  the  Spirit  of  God  was 
carrying  forward  his  own  noiseless  work.  I  per- 
ceived nothing  to  encourage  me  but  an  unusual  en- 
largement and  urgency  in  prayer,  a  greater  facility 
in  the  selection  of  fitting  themes  for  the  pulpit,  and 
more  freedom  and  earnestness  in  declaring  the  whole 
counsel  of  God.  God  remarkably  interposed  to  re- 
lieve my  mind  from  its  depression,  and  gave  me  such 
enlarged  and  delightful  views  of  his  truth,  that  my 
whole  ministry  received  a  new  and  cheered  impulse. 
It  was  easy,  also,  to  perceive  that  the  spirit  of  grace 
and  supplication  was  being  poured  out  upon  the  peo- 
ple. The  weekly  prayer-meeting  and  the  weekly  lec- 
ture were  full  of  interest.  Days  of  fasting  and  prayer 
were  occasionally  observed,  and  a  Saturday  evening 
prayer-meeting  was  established  by  the  young  men  of 
the  congregation.  Our  Sabbaths  became  deeply  sol- 
emn and  affecting;  we  watched  for  them  like  those 
who  watch  for  the  morning,  and  I  verily  believe  we 
anticipated  them  with  greater  pleasure  and  expecta- 
tion than  the  sons  and  daughters  of  earth  ever  antici- 
pated their  brightest  jubilee.  This  was  the  first 
strongly  marked  revival  of  God's  work  among,  this 


216  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

people ;  and  I  take  this  notice  of  it  because  it  was  so 
emphatic  an  expression  of  God's  goodness  to  your 
young  minister.  Poor  a  thing  as  I  have  been,  and 
still  continue  to  be,  it  was  this  work  of  grace  which 
made  me  what  I  am — which  gave  me  entirely  new 
views  of  the  great  objects  of  the  ministry,  and  made 
my  work  my  joy.  I  loved  it  before,  but  never  so 
ardently  as  then.  But  for  this  early  season  of  mercy, 
during  the  summer  of  1814,  I  do  not  see  how  I  could 
have  remained  among  you.  It  was  the  Lord's  doing, 
and  it  is  marvellous  in  our  eyes.  The  ingathering 
was  not  great,  but  it  was  the  finest  of  the  wheat.  I 
may  not  mention  their  names. 

"This  was  but  the  beginning  of  days  of  mercy. 
The  commencement  of  the  year  1815  was  the  dawn- 
ing of  a  still  brighter  day.  The  last  Sabbath  of  the 
old  year  and  the  evening  services  of  that  Sabbath 
will  be  long  remembered.  Eight  .or  ten  persons,  dur- 
ing the  following  week,  were  found  to  be  awake,  and 
in  earnest  for  their  salvation.  The  whole  winter  was 
a  day  of  the  right  hand  of  the  Most  High.  The  cloud 
of  mercy  extended  itself  through  the  following  spring 
and  summer  and  autumn.  In  the  month  of  Novem- 
ber the  Bible-class  was  reorganized,  the  Saturday 
evening  prayer-meeting  was  renewed,  and  God  ap- 
peared to  take  the  work  into  his  own  hands.  There 
was  complaint  and  hostility  ;  there  were  not  wanting 
apprehensions  in  the  minds  of  some -of  the  pastors 
and  churches  in  the  city,  that  the  work  savored  more 
of  fanaticism  than  intelligent  and  sober  thought.  But 
the  apprehensions  were  groundless.  The  blessing 
was  near ;  the  sacred  influence  was  silent  as  the  dew 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  21t 

of  heaven.  There  was  no  outbreak  and  no  disorder. 
There  was  prayer.  There  was  solemn  and  earnest 
preaching.  There  were  unexpected  and  unthought 
of  instances  of  seriousness  among  the  gay  and  frivo- 
lous, in  the  families  of  the  rich  as  well  as  the  poor, 
among  the  immoral  as  well  as  the  moral,  and  many 
were  the  instances  of  conversion  to  God.  The  third 
Thursday  of  January  was  set  apart  by  about  thirty 
members  of  the  church  as  a  day  of  fasting,  humilia- 
tion, and  prayer.  It  was  in  a  private  house  in  the 
rear  of  St.  Paul's,  in  Church-street ;  and  such  a  day 
I  never  saw  before,  and  have  never  seen  since.  It 
was  closed  under  strong  and  confident  expectation 
that  God  was  near,  and  that  his  Spirit  was  about 
largely  to  descend  upon  the  people.  And  so  it  was. 
A  delightful  impulse  was  given  to  the  work  by  this 
day  of  prayer.  The  promise  was  made  good,  'Before 
they  call  I  will  answer,  and  while  they  are  yet  speak- 
ing I  will  hear.'  The  weekly  lecture,  attended  on 
the  evening  of  that  day,  was  perhaps  the  most  solemn 
service  of  my  ministry.  The  subject  of  the  discourse 
was  suggested  by  the  words,  '  Marvel  not  that  I  said 
unto  you.  Ye  must  be  born  again.'  God  was  with 
the  hearers  and  the  preacher ;  his  Spirit  moved  them 
as  the  trees  of  the  forest  are  moved  by  a  mighty 
wind.  There  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  minds 
of  more  than  one  hundred  persons  were  deeply  im- 
pressed with  a  sense  of  their  lost  condition  as  sin- 
ners, and  their  need  of  an  interest  in  Christ,  on  that 
evening.  Enemies  were  silenced ;  members  of  other 
churches  came  among  us  to  see  and  mark  the  charac- 
ter of  the  work  for  themselves,  and  all  classes  were 

Rpv.    SU-Ptrhrs  10 


218  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

constrained  to  confess,  'This  is  the  finger  of  God/ 
Between  one  and  two  hundred  attended  the  meetings 
for  religious  inquiry  and  conversation,  and  deep  so- 
lemnity pervaded  the  whole  people..  There  was  great 
eagerness  for  religious  instruction,  and  great  satisfac- 
tion in  the  soul-humiliating  and  soul-encouraging  doc- 
trines of  the  cross.  The  work  was  rapid.  The  period 
of  awakening  and  conviction  in  many  instances  was 
very  short,  so  short  that  older  Christians  began  to 
doubt  the  genuineness  of  such  conversions.  There 
was  no  reason  for  the  doubt.  Some  of  the  brightest 
and  most  enduring  Christians  among  us  were  those 
very  persons  whose  conversion  was  almost  as  sudden 
as  that  of  Saul  of  Tarsus.  The  gathering  of  this 
protracted  harvest  was  rich,  consisting  sometimes  of 
thirty  and  forty,  and  at  one  communion  of  more  than 
seventy,  filling  the  broad  aisle  of  the  church — a  love- 
ly spectacle  to  God,  angels,  and  men. 

"  There  have  been  five  seasons  of  the  especial  out- 
pouring of  God's  Spirit  upon  this  people  during  the 
ministry  of  their  present  pastor.  They  were  inter- 
spersed between  the  years  1812  and  1834,  more  or 
less  copious,  but  always  seasons  of  delightful  refresh- 
ing from  the  presence  of  the  Lord.  If  the  tree  is 
known  by  its  fruit,  they  are  proved  to  have  been  the 
fruit  of  God's  Spirit.  The  subjects  of  this  work  of 
grace  have  in  almost  all  instances  run  well ;  they 
have  turned  out  intelligent  and  active  Christians. 
Many  of  them  have  been  called  to  their  last  earth- 
ly rest;  nor  shall  I  forget  the  blessedness  and  the 
blessed  scenes  of  their  last  hours.  Many  of  them 
are  ministers  of  the  gospel,  and  more  the  wives  of 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  219 

ministers.  Many  of  them  are  teachers  and  superin- 
tendents of  Sabbath-schools.  Many  of  them  are  rul- 
ing elders  and  deacons  in  other  churches,  while  some 
remain  in  the  honorable  fulfilment  of  these  offices 
among  ourselves.  Very  many  of  them  are  scattered 
through  this  wide  land,  and  distant  churches  and  the 
distant  wilderness  are  made  glad  for  them.  I  never 
was  so  gratefully  impressed  with  this  fact,  and  with 
the  high  privilege  of  preaching  the  gospel  in  this 
sanctuary,  as  on  an  unexpected  tour  through  Western 
New  York  and  the  western  states  on  the  Upper  Mis- 
sissippi. Everywhere  I  met  those  who  remembered 
the  young  minister  and  the  old  Session-room.  I  heard 
of  the  death  of  some  far  away,  and  it  was  affecting 
to  learn  that  in  their  last  hours  their  thoughts  of 
grateful  praise  were  turned  towards  these  scenes  of 
mercy. 

"  It  will  be  found,  by  an  inspection  of  our  records, 
that  after  the  separation  of  the  Brick  and  Wall-street 
churches,  and  before  the  installation  of  the  present 
pastor,  the  session  were  faithfully  employed  in  acts 
oi  painful  discipline.  Church  discipline  is  not  less 
truly  an  ordinance  of  God  than  church  communion. 
No  church  can  prosper  that  connives  at  heresy  or 
immorality  among  its  communicants.  This  unwel- 
come duty  was  faithfully  pursued  for  several  years 
after  my  settlement  among  this  people,  and  has  been 
discharged  with  perfect  unanimity  ever  since.  In 
the  early  part  of  my  ministry  there  were  some  avow- 
ed infidels  in  the  church,  who  were  the  disciples  of 
Paine  and  Palmer ;  there  were  also  avowed  Univer- 
salists ;  there  have  been  from  time  to  time  immoral 


220  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

men  and  licentious,  whom  no  means  could  reclaim, 
and  they  have  been  cast  out.  It  has  often  been  at 
great  sacrifice  of  feeling,  and  some  of  interest  and 
influence,  that  these  acts  of  discipline  have  been  per- 
formed ;  but  however  reluctantly  and  cautiously,  it  is 
a  work  which  has  been  done." 

From  Bishop  Mcllvaine,  of  the  diocese  of  Ohio. 

In  closing  a  letter  on  revivals  in  1832,  Bishop 
Mcllvaine  says,  "  I  owe  too  much  of  what  I  hope  for 
as  a  Christian,  and  what  I  have  been  blessed  with  as 
a  minister  .of  the  gospel,  not  to  think  most  highly  of 
the  eminent  importance  of  promoting  the  spirit  of 
genuine  revivals.  Whatever  I  possess  of  religion 
began  in  a  revival.  The  most  precious,  steadfast,  and 
vigorous  fruits  of  my  ministry  have  been  the  fruits  of 
revivals.  I  believe  that  the  spirit  of  revivals  in  the 
true  sense,  was  the  simple  spirit  of  the  religion  of 
apostolic  times,  and  will  be  more  and  more  the  char- 
acteristic of  these  times,  as  the  day  of  the  Lord  draws 
near." 

The  Bishop's  annual  address  to  the  convention  of 
the  diocese  of  Ohio,  in  June,  1858,  is  chiefly  devoted 
to  the  subject  of  the  revival  of  religion,  occasioned 
especially  by  "  the  blessed  work  of  grace  which  God 
had  so  mercifully,  and  so  widely  and  wonderfully 
vouchsafed  to  the  churches  of  our  land  within  the 
few  preceding  months." 

"It  is  more  than  forty  years,"  he  says,  "since  I 
first  witnessed  a  revival  of  religion.  It  was  in  the 
college  of  which  I  was  a  student.  It  was  powerful 
and  pervading,  and  fruitful  in  the  conversion  of  young 
men  to  God ;  and  it  was  quiet,  unexcited,  and  entire- 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  221 

ly  free  from  all  devices  or  means  beyond  the  few 
and  simple  whicli  God  has  appointed,  namely, '  prayer 
and  the  ministry  of  the  word.'  In  that  precious  sea- 
son of  the  power  of  God,  my  religious  life  began.  I 
had  heard  before;  I  began  then  to  know.  I  must 
doubt  the  deepest  convictions  of  my  soul,  when  I 
doubt  whether  that  revival  was  the  work  of  the  Spirit 
of  God.  Many  that  have  labored  faithfully  in  the 
ministry,  and  are  now  at  rest  with  the  Lord ;  some 
that  are  still  in  the  work ;  many  whose  mark  has 
been  strongly  made  upon  their  generation,  on  the  side 
of  the  gospel,  were  the  subjects  of  that  work.  Till 
Satan  shall  be  bound,  so  that  he  cannot  go  about  to 
deceive  and  devour,  a  work  of  religion  more  genuine, 
less  perverted  by  human  infirmities  and  devices,  less 
dishonored  by  the  defection  of  such  as  professed  to 
have  been  born  of  God  therein,  is  hardly  to  be  eX' 
pected. 

"About  the  time  of  that  revival,  and  for  several 
years  after,  similar  blessings  were  enjoyed  in  various 
communities  of  the  land.  They  were,  for  the  most 
part,  equally  simple,  exhibiting  numerous  and  decided 
conversions,  elevating  the  spiritual  character  of  Chris- 
tians, and  sending  forth  many  faithful  men  to  be  min- 
isters and  missionaries  of  the  gospel,  at  home  and 
abroad.'' 

"During  this  period,  our  Episcopal  churches,  under 
a  greatly  extended  and  more  earnest  and  evangelical 
ministry,  were  in  many  places  favored  of  God  with 
marked  manifestations  of  the  power  of  his  Spirit; 
bowing  the  hearts  of  many  persons,  within  a  short 
space  of  time,  to  the  obedience  of  Christ.     I  have 


222  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

nowhere  seen  more  fruitful  'revivals  of  religion/  in 
which  the  conversions  were  more  marked,  the  spirit- 
ual results  more  beneficial  and  permanent.  How 
many  of  our  clergy  can  tell  of  such  movements  under 
their  labors,  and  bless  God  for  their  issues  of  life. 
And  how  many  of  them  can  point  to  revivals  in  Epis- 
copal churches  as  marking  their  spiritual  birthdays." 
Proceeding  to  notice  a  period  of  several  years  of 
apparent  unfruitfulness,  in  which  "  it  seemed  as  if  the 
preaching  of  the  word  had  lost  its  power,"  he  says, 
"Then  it  was,  just  in  that  time  of  rebuke  and  dark- 
ness, and  apparent  deep  discouragement,  that  God's 
hand  appeared  and  this  present  work  of  grace  began. 
It  began  in  our  chief  commercial  centres,  precisely 
where  the  credit  of  religion  had  been  most  impaired, 
and  the  tide  against  it  was  the  strongest.  It  began 
in  a  remarkable  indication,  among  persons  deeply 
immersed  in  business  cares,  of  a  desire  to  meet  to- 
gether for  prayer.  Its  progress  has  exhibited  the 
same  simple  features  as  its  beginning.  How  widely 
it  has  gone  over  our  land;  how  it  has  appeared  in 
hundreds  of  our  cities  and  villages  almost  simultane- 
ously, reaching  all  classes  of  population ;  the  same 
thing  among  all,  silent,  simple,  subduing,  harmoniz- 
ing, and  uniting,  making  people  love  the  word  of  God 
and  prayer  who  never  cared  for  them  before,  I  need 
not  tell  you.  I  rejoice  to  know  that  our  churches,  in 
this  diocese  and  in  others,  have  largely  participated 
in  the  blessing,  and  are  gathering  more  and  more 
fruit  therefrom.  Our  diocesan  college  is  thus  favor- 
ed. Pray  for  it,  my  brethren,  that  all  the  youth 
therein  may  be  turned  to  the  Lord.     Pray  for  our 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  223 

"v^hole  church,  that  no  part  of  it  may  be  unvisited  in 
these  'times  of  refreshing  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord/'' 

"  You  see  a  daily  assemblage  of  intelligent  people 
gathered  from  the  walks  of  business,  at  an  hour  of 
the  day  which  the  world  claims  for  its  own  interests, 
in  some  lecture-room  or  public  hall,  or  Sunday-school- 
house:  they  pray  with  one  another;  they  'speak  to 
one  another  in  psalms  and  hymns,  and  spiritual  songs ;' 
they  read  a  few  verses  of  Scripture  ;  they  exhort  one 
another.  If  a  minister  be  present,  as  often  is  the 
case,  he  addresses  them  for  a  few  minutes :  they  thus 
pass  an  hour ;  separating  as  punctually  at  its  end,  as 
they  met  at  its  beginning;  and  this,  added  to  the 
parochial  work  and  exercises  of  the  churches,  is  all 
the  exterior  instrumentality  under  God,  on  which 
this  remarkable  movement  has  made  its  march  through 
the  land.  The  strong  tendency  is,  to  strengthen  a 
sense  of  the  value  and  necessity  of  the  regular  min- 
istry, to  enhance  reverence  for  the  old  paths  of  gos- 
pel truth  and  ordinances,  and  greatly  to  increase  the 
attendance  upon  the  regular,  sober  services  of  the 
Sabbath,  and  of  the  judicious,  faithful  pastor. 

'"  There  have  been,  in  the  American  churches,  re- 
vivals as  pure  and  simple,  and  in  their  sphere,  as 
effective  for  good.  But  we  read  of  none  of  such  ex- 
tent; reaching  at  the  same  time  so  many  people; 
scattered  over  such  a  length  and  breadth  of  territory  j 
appearing  in  so  many  denominations  of  Christians,  of 
widely  separated  ecclesiastical  institutions ;  leaven- 
ing so  many  colleges,  and  other  institutions  of  educa- 
tion ;  so  penetrating  with  one  and  the  same  influence 


.224  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

all  gradations  of  society,  from  the  most  cultivated  to 
the  most  unlettered;  in  cities  and  villages,  in  the 
counting-house  of  the  merchant,  in  the  workshop  of 
the  mechanic,  in  factories,  in  printing-offices,  among 
classes  of  persons  usually  regarded  as  peculiarly  re- 
moved from  and  fenced  against  the  influence  of  gos- 
pel truth.  How  can  we  witness  all  this,  and  not  see 
the  hand  of  God,  and  take  courage,  and  desire  and 
pray  for  more  and  more  of  such  manifestations  of  his 
grace?'' 

One  of  the  revivals  in  which  Bishop  Mcllvaine 
speaks  of  having  labored,  was  in  the  apparently  very 
unpromising  field,  the  Military  Academy  at  West 
Point,  about  1826.  Being  called  upon  one  day  by  a 
student  who  he  thought  would  be  as  likely  as  any 
other  to  receive  in  good  part  a  word  of  serious  ex- 
hortation, he  presented  him  four  tracts,  two  of  which 
he  requested  him  to  read  for  his  own  personal  benefit, 
and  the  other  two  to  drop  where  some  of  his  sceptical 
fellow-students  would  be  likely  to  find  them. 

The  next  Saturday  another  student  called  on  him 
and  said,  "  You  do  not  know  me,  sir ;  my  name  is 

;"  and  then  burst  into  tears.     For  some  time  ho 

could  not  utter  a  word.  "  My  friend,"  said  Mr.  Mcll- 
vaine, "if,  as  I  trust,  your  grief  is  connected  with 
religion — if  you  desire  to  become  a  servant  of  God, 
be  encouraged  to  open  your  heart  to  me,  whose  heart 
is  already  open  to  you."  "I  do  desire  to  become  a 
servant  of  God,"  said  he;  and  deep  emotion  again 
prevented  utterance.  He  soon  related  that  he  had 
found  a  tract  in  his  room,  the  Death  of  an  Infidel ;  that 
he  had  not  considered  himself  an  infidel,  but  had  been 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  225 

very  profane,  and  in  the  habit  of  speaking  lightly  of 
religion.  He  not  long  after  gave  evidence  that  he 
had  been  born  of  God,  and  united  himself  to  the  com- 
munion of  the  church. 

This  young  man  was  then  intent  on  the  salvation 
of  his  fellow-student  through  whom  he  had  received 
the  tract ;  and  in  a  few  days  he  brought  him,  leaning 
on  his  arm,  to  Mr.  Mcllvaine,  who  threw  around  him  his 
arms  of  Christian  love.  "  I  can  hold  out  no  longer," 
said  the  student ;  "  this  is  not  the  first  time ;  I  have 
been  often  called  ;  I  can  hold  out  no  longer.  I  will 
be  a  servant  of  God,  his  grace  helping  me,  henceforth 
for  ever."  It  was  in  reading  the  "  Shepherd  of  Salis- 
bury Plain,"  that  he  first  felt  his  heart  expanded  with 
love  to  God,  and  bursting  with  the  spirit  of  prayer. 
These  two  young  men  became  active  members  of  the 
church  of  Christ;  they  labored  faithfully  in  tract 
distribution  and  Sabbath-schools;  by  one  of  them  a 
school  of  a  hundred  children  was  raised  up  where  the 
gospel  had  scarcely  ever  been  preached ;  one  of  them 
established  a  weekly  prayer-meeting  among  a  people 
destitute  of  the  means  of  grace ;  by  the  instrumental- 
ity of  one  of  them,  as  many  as  ten,  who  had  been  dread- 
fully wicked,  were  hopefully  converted,  and  so  chang- 
ed as  to  astonish  their  former  companions.  Both 
consecrated  their  lives  to  the  ministry  of  the  gospel, 
and  one  of  them  is  now  a  bishop  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  church  in  the  distant  west. 

From  Rev.  Dr.  Archibald  Maclay,  New  York.    1809-1820. 

"From  February,  1809,  when  eighteen  members 
were  constituted  a  Baptist  church,  and  received  the 
right-hand  of  fellowship  from  the   venerable  Rev. 


226  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

John  Williams,  father  of  Rev.  Dr.  William  R.  Will- 
iams, till  December,  1820,  I  think  it  can  be  truly  said 
that  we  enjoyed  a  perpetual  revival.  We  were  few 
in  number,  but  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  grant  a  spirit 
of  grace  and  supplication.  We  felt  an  ardent  and 
longing  desire  for  the  salvation  of  sinners,  and  cor- 
responding efforts  were  manifested.  At  that  time  we 
met  in  a  large  school-room  in  James-street,  while 
erecting  our  first  place  of  worship  in  Mulberry-street. 
The  access  to  the  school-room  was  inconvenient,  but 
it  was  filled  to  overflowing,  and  became  the  birthplace 
of  many  precious  souls.  When  we  removed  to  our 
new  place  of  worship,  it  was  immediately  filled,  and 
the  work  of  God  in  the  conversion  of  sinners  continued 
to  increase.  In  a  few  years  we  rebuilt,  on  the  same 
site,  a  house  of  double  the  size,  and  this  too  was  filled 
to  its  utmost  capacity.  The  Lord  continued  to  bless 
the  word,  and  conversions  to  God  were  multiplied. 
Almost  every  week,  I  was  visited  by  individuals  anx- 
iously inquiring, '  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?  How 
shall  I  escape  the  wrath  to  come?'  During  this  pe- 
riod, I  am  persuaded  that  not  less  than  five  hundred 
were  brought  out  of  darkness  into  God's  marvellous 
light. 

"A  Sunday-school  was  established  in  1810,  under 
the  instruction  of  Charles  G.  Sommers  and  Joseph 
W.  Griffiths,  the  first  that  was  organized  in  this  city, 
or  so  far  as  I  know  in  the  United  States,  exclusively 
for  religious  purposes.  We  afterwards  organized 
three  other  Sunday-schools,  one  of  them  very  large, 
in  a  destitute  part  of  the  city,  under  the  care  of  Mr. 
David  T.  Valentine,  and  all  were  well  attended.     I 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  22T 

taught  a  Bible-class  of  young  men  on  Monday  even- 
ing, and  a  class  of  young  ladies  on  Wednesday  after- 
noon. I  was  accustomed  to  preach  three  times  on 
the  Lord's  day.  In  the  morning  I  usually  expounded 
the  Scriptures ;  expounding  in  this  way  the  whole 
New  Testament  and  some  portions  of  the  Old,  which 
proved  very  profitable  both  to  me  and  my  hearers. 
In  the  afternoon  I  generally  preached  for  the  instruc- 
tion and  edification  of  Christians,  and  in  the  evening 
addressed  more  especially  the  unconverted.  Our 
regular  lecture  on  Tuesday  evening,  and  our  prayer- 
meeting  on  Friday  evening  were  well  attended  and 
deeply  interesting.  The  young  people  also  met  for 
prayer  on  Saturday  evening. 

"During  the  period  that  I  was  pastor  of  the 
church,  eighteen  brethren  were  licensed  to  preach, 
and  became  useful  ministers  of  the  gospel ;  and  six  or 
seven  other  brethren  who  were  dismissed  from  us  to 
other  churches,  also  became  preachers.  Some  of  these 
are  still  living,  and  have  labored  in  the  cause  of 
Christ  for  nearly  half  a  century. 

"  In  my  ministry  it  has  been  my  aim  to  keep  back 
nothing  profitable  to  my  hearers,  but  to  declare  unto 
them  'all  the  counsel  of  God.'  The  leading  theme 
of  my  preaching  has  been  Christ,  and  him  crucified, 
as  the  only  Saviour  of  lost  sinners.  I  have  shown  the 
universal  and  total  depravity  of  men;  that  every 
unconverted  sinner  is  under  the  dominion  of  a  carnal 
mind,  which  is  enmity  against  God  and  not  subject 
to  his  law ;  that  a  change  of  heart,  a  heavenly  birth, 
is  absolutely  necessary  to  see  the  kingdom  of  God 
and  enter  therein ;  that  the  same  power  that  created 


228  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

the  world,  and  raised  our  Lord  from  tlie  dead,  must 
quicken  the  sinner  dead  in  sins,  and  make  him  alive 
to  Glod ;  that  if  saved  from  sin  and  hell,  it  must  be  by 
free,  sovereign,  efficacious  grace,  through  faith  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  and  that  nothing  can  meet  the 
necessities  of  a  sinner  awakened  to  a  sense  of  his 
guilt  by  the  teaching  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  but  what 
satisfied  divine  justice,  the  full  atonement  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

"To  guard  my  hearers  against  self-deception,  I 
have  insisted  that  true  religion  demands  nothing 
short  of  entire  conformity  to  the  image  of  Christ,  and 
obedience  to  all  things  that  he  has  commanded. 

"  Those  that  were  converted  to  God  during  this 
revival,  were  brought  generally  to  see  and  feel  deeply 
the  evil  of  sin  as  committed  against  God,  and  their 
just  exposure  to  the  wrath  to  come,  and  were  led  to 
renounce  all  dependence  on  works  of  their  own,  and 
rely  alone  for  life  and  salvation  on  the  great  Re- 
deemer. 

"  Many  of  those  who  embraced  the  gospel  at  this 
period  were  young.  One  was  only  seven  years  old. 
She  came  to  me  in  my  study  in  great  distress,  asking 
if  God  could  save  her,  for  she  had  lived  seven  years 
without  loving  him,  and  all  the  time  sinning  against 
him.  She  united  with  the  church,  and  has  lived  to 
train  up  a  large  family  in  the  fear  of  God.  Her  grand- 
mother found  Christ  after  she  was  ninety  years  of  age. 
The  great  body  of  those  who  made  a  profession  of 
religion,  have  continued  in  the  faith,  rooted  and 
grounded  in  love,  and  have  not  been  moved  away 
from  the  hope  of  the  gospel.'' 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  229 

From  Rev.  Dr.  Hyde,  Lee,  Mass. 

"In  the  summer  of  1821,  there  was  an  increase 
of  solemnity  in  the  church  and  congregation,  and  some 
were  known  to  be  anxious  for  their  souls.  The  church 
often  assembled  for  prayer,  and  in  the  month  of  Au- 
gust we  observed  a  day  of  fasting.  The  hearts  of 
many  seemed  to  burn  within  them,  and  there  were 
increasing  indications  from  the  rising  cloud,  of  abun- 
dance of  rain.  At  this  interesting  crisis,  the  Rev. 
Asahel  Nettleton  spent  a  few  days  with  us.  He 
preached  five  sermons  to  overflowing  assemblies,  and 
his  labors  were  remarkably  blessed.  The  Spirit  of 
God  came  down  upon  us,  like  a  rushing  mighty  wind. 
Conversions  were  frequent,  sometimes  several  in  a 
day,  and  the  change  in  the  feelings  and  views  of  the 
subjects  was  wonderful. 

"  At  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Nettleton,  I  now  insti- 
tuted what  are  called  inquiry  meetings,  and  more  than 
a  hundred  persons  attended  the  first.  These  meet- 
ings, as  I  found  them  to  be  convenient,  were  continued 
through  the  revival ;  and  I  have  ever  since  made  use 
of  them,  as  occasion  required,  sometimes  weekly  for 
many  months  in  succession.  The  church  have  always 
been  requested  to  assemble  for  prayer  in  the  upper 
room  of  the  large  school-house,  in  which  these  meetings 
have  been  held.  In  these  meetings  the  ruined  and 
helpless  state  of  sinners,  the  exceeding  wickedness 
of  their  hearts,  and  the  awful  consequences  of  neglect- 
ing the  great  salvation,  have  been  impressed  on  the 
minds  of  the  inquirers.  They  have  not  been  directed 
to  take  any  steps  preparatory  to  their  accepting  of 
Christ;   but  repentance  towards  God  and  faith  in 


230  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

Christ  have  been  enjoined  upon  them  as  their  imme- 
diate duty  and  only  safe  course.  No  language  can 
describe  the  deep  feeling  which  has  been  manifested 
at  some  of  these  meetings.  The  work  continued  till 
the  close  of  the  year,  and  the  church  received  an 
accession  of  eighty-six  persons  as  the  fruits  of  it. 

"  Between  this  revival,  and  that  which  took  place 
in  1827,  the  seasons  of  prayer  in  the  church  were 
frequent,  and  occasionally  whole  days  of  fasting  and 
prayer  which  all  the  people  were  invited  to  attend, 
were  observed.  The  church  also  by  a  large  commit- 
tee visited  every  family  in  the  town,  and  conversed 
with  parents  and  children  on  the  concerns  of  their 
souls,  closing  these  interviews  with  prayer.  This 
has  been  repeatedly  done,  and  sometimes  the  whole 
has  been  accomplished  in  one  day. 

"  On  the  Sabbath  preceding  the  first  day  of  the 
year  1827,  I  invited  the  people,  as  it  had  been  our 
practice,  to  assemble  at  the  rising  of  the  sun  in  the 
sanctuary,  for  the  purpose  of  prayer  and  praise.  Sev- 
eral hundreds  attended,  and  an  uncommon  interest 
was  evidently  felt  in  the  meeting.  Another  display 
of  the  all-conquering  grace  of  God  commenced,  which 
was  very  powerful,  and  continued  through  the  winter 
and  spring.  In  the  course  of  a  few  months  it  was 
found  that  thirty  new  domestic  altars  were  erected. 
As  the  fruits  of  this  revival,  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  were  added  to  the  church. 

"  The  year  1831,  which  was  a  year  memorable  for 
the  effusion  of  the  Spirit  in  almost  every  part  of  the 
land,  this  people  were  not  passed  by.  For  a  number 
of  months  the  excitement  was  very  great,  and  our 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  231 

meetings  were  frequent,  crowded,  and  solemn.  Some 
instances  of  conversion  were  more  striking  than  any 
I  had  ever  witnessed.  The  almighty  and  sovereign 
power  of  God  was  remarkably  displayed,  evincing 
the  truth  of  his  own  declaration,  '  I  will  have  mercy 
on  whom  I  will  have  mercy.'  This  revival  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  addition  of  forty-four  members  to  the 
church. 

"  Of  the  whole  number  received  during  my  minis- 
try, six  hundred  and  seventy-four,  none  have  been 
admitted  under  two  or  three  months  after  they  began 
to  hope  they  had  passed  from  death  unto  life;  and 
many  chose  to  wait  longer.  Whenever  we  have  been 
favored  with  outpourings  of  the  Spirit,  meetings  have 
been  appointed  with  particular  reference  to  the  young 
converts,  at  which  they  have  been  freely  conversed 
with  respecting  the  ground  and  reason  of  their  hope, 
that  they  might  test  their  character  by  having  the 
great  truths  of  the  gospel  presented  clearly  to  their 
view.  A  confession  of  faith  has  also  been  read  and 
explained  to  them,  and  their  full  assent  to  it  has  been 
obtained,  before  they  offered  themselves  to  the  church. 

"  I  have  never  countenanced  the  praying  of  women' 
in  promiscuous  assemblies,  whether  great  or  small, 
from  a  full  conviction  that  the  practice  is  contrary 
to  the  spirit  of  the  word  of  God.  Neither  have  I 
seen  it  to  be  proper,  even  in  seasons  of  the  greatest 
excitement,  to  call  upon  impenitent  sinners,  either  in 
public  or  private  meetings,  or  in  the  inquiry  room, 
to  manifest  their  determination  to  seek  religion  or  to 
give  any  pledge  that  they  would  do  it.  It  would  be 
a  departure  from  the  practice  of  Christ  and  his  apos- 


232  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

ties.  In  their  preacliing  they  inculcated  repentance 
and  submission  to  God  as  the  immediate  duty  of 
sinners." 

From  the  Rev.  Dr.  Porter,  Farmington,  Conn. 

"  The  year  1821  was  eminently,  in  Connecticut, 
a  year  of  revivals.  Between  eighty  and  a  hundred 
congregations  were  signally  blessed.  From  the  com- 
mencement of  the  year  a  new  state  of  feeling  began 
to  appear  in  this  town.  On  the  first  Sabbath  in 
February  I  stated  to  the  assembly  the  tokens  of  the 
gracious  presence  of  God  in  several  places  in  the 
vicinity,  and  urged  the  duties  peculiarly  incumbent 
on  us  at  such  a  season.  Professors  of  religion  now 
began  evidently  to  awake.  In  their  communications 
with  each  other  and  with  the  world,  they  were  led 
spontaneously  to  confess  their  unfaithfulness ;  and 
about  the  same  time  a  few  without  the  church  were 
pungently  convicted. 

"  In  this  state  of  things,  Rev.  Mr.  Nettleton  made 
us  his  first  visit.  His  preaching,  on  the  evening  of 
the  Lord's  day,  from  Acts  2  :  37,  was  set  home  by  the 
power  of  the  Spirit  upon  the  hearts  of  many  ;  and  his 
discourse  on  the  Wednesday  evening  following,  from 
Gen.  6 : 3,  was  blessed  to  the  conviction  of  a  still 
greater  number.  As  many  asjlfty,  it  was  afterwards 
ascertained,  dated  their  first  decided  purpose  of  im- 
mediately seeking  their  salvation  from  that  evening. 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  anxious,  on  the  evening  of 
February  26,  about  a  hundred  and  seventy  were  pres- 
ent. Here  were  persons  of  almost  every  age  and 
class,  some  who  a  few  weeks  before  had  put  the  sub- 
ject of  personal  piety  at  a  scornful  distance,  and 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  233 

others  who  had  drowned  every  thought  of  religion 
in  giddy  mirth,  now  bending  their  knees  together  in 
supplication,  or  waiting  in  silent  reflection  for  a  min- 
ister of  the  gospel  to  pass  along,  and  tell  them  indi- 
vidually what  they  must  do. 

"  From  this  time,  so  rapid  was  the  progress  of  the 
work,  that  at  the  next  similar  meeting,  March  12,  a 
hundred  and  eighty  were  present,  of  whom  fifty  sup- 
posed that  since  the  commencement  of  the  revival, 
they  had  become  reconciled  to  God ;  and  a  week  after- 
wards, I  had  the  names  of  more  than  ninety  who 
indulged  the  same  persuasion  concerning  themselves. 

"  The  state  of  feeling  which  at  this  time  pervaded 
the  town,  was  interesting  beyond  description.  There 
was  no  commotion,  but  a  stillness  in  our  very  streets ; 
a  serenity  in  the  aspect  of  the  pious,  and  a  solemnity 
apparent  in  almost  all,  which  forcibly  impressed  us 
with  the  conviction  that  in  very  deed  God  was  in 
this  place.  Public  meetings,  however,  were  not  very 
frequent.  They  were  so  appointed  as  to  afford  the 
opportunity  for  the  same  individuals  to  hear  preach- 
ing twice  a  week,  besides  on  the  Sabbath.  Occasion- 
ally there  were  also  meetings  of  an  hour,  in  the  morn- 
ing or  at  noon,  in  private  dwellings,  at  which  the 
serious  in  the  neighborhood  were  convened  on  short 
notice,  for  prayer  and  conference.  The  members  of 
the  church  also  met  weekly  for  prayer,  and  common- 
ly on  the  evenings  selected  for  the  meetings  of  the 
anxious.  From  these  meetings,  the  people  retired  di- 
rectly, and  with  little  communication  with  each  other, 
to  their  homes.  They  were  disposed  to  be  much  alone, 
and  to  take  the  word  of  God  for  their  guide. 


234  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

"  The  topics  principally  insisted  on  in  this  revival, 
were  the  unchangeable  obligations  of  the  divine  law, 
the  deceitful  and  entirely  depraved  character  of  the 
natural  heart,  the  free  and  indiscriminate  offers  of 
the  gospel,  the  reasonableness  and  necessity  of  imme- 
diate repentance,  the  refuges  and  excuses  to  which 
awakened  sinners  are  accustomed  to  resort,  and  the 
manner,  guilt,  and  danger  of  slighting,  resisting,  and 
opposing  the  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

"  Among  the  first  subjects  of  the  work,  there  was 
a  large  proportion  of  the  more  wealthy  and  intelli- 
gent. A  considerable  number  of  youths  belonging  to 
this  class,  had  just  finished  a  course  of  biblical  instruc- 
tion, for  which  I  had  met  them  weekly  for  more  than 
a  year,  who,  with  scarcely  an  exception,  at  the  very 
commencement  of  the  revival  embraced  the  gospel 
which  they  had  learned,  and  by  their  experience  of 
its  power  commended  it  to  the  families  to  which 
they  belonged.  I  suppose  that  within  three  months, 
there  were  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  persons  who 
hoped  they  had  passed  from  death  unto  life.  On  the 
first  Sabbath  in  June,  a  hundred  and  fourteen  were 
added  to  the  church;  and  at  subsequent  periods  a 
hundred  and  twenty  more.  Many  have  died,  and 
many  have  removed  from  our  immediate  connection ; 
but  those  who  remain,  now  constitute  the  chief 
strength  of  the  church.'^ 

From  Rev.  Dr.  Tenney,  of  Wethersfield,  Conn.    April,   1822. 

"Previous  to  the  revival,  our  church  consisted  of 
about  two  hundred  and  sixty  members.  As  its  fruits, 
precisely  two  hundred  more  have  been  added,  of  whom 
seventy-nine  are  heads   of  families.      Sixty-two   are 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  235 

males,  and  thirty- two  are  young  unmarried  men.  A 
number  of  others  have  indulged  hope.  Generally  the 
subjects  of  the  work  still  appear  well. 

"Some  instances  of  conversion  have  been  strongly 
marked.  The  awakening  of  some  has  been  sudden 
and  powerful,  and  has  soon  issued  in  triumphant 
peace.  In  others  it  has  been  as  the  'still  small  voice.' 
One  individual  who  had  been  a  total  disbeliever  in 
revelation,  began  to  examine  the  subject  of  religion 
with  all  the  coolness  of  a  mathematician ;  till,  in  the 
course  of  a  few  weeks,  the  great  truths  of  Scripture 
bore  upon  his  conscience  with  insupportable  power, 
and  had  almost  that '  keen  vibration  through  his  soul, 
which  makes  hell ;'  and  his  heart  yielded  to  God. 
One  aged  man  said,  If  I  have  been  born  of  God,  it 
was  on  the  day  when  I  was  seventy-six  years  old. 
Another  said.  It  was  the  day  when  I  was  sixty-eight. 
In  one  family,  a  mother  of  eleven  children,  who  had 
long  gone  to  the  table  of  Christ  mourning  that  of 
her  great  family  there  was  not  one  to  accompany  her, 
now  hopes  that  eight  of  her  children  are  the  children 
of  God.  In  another  family  consisting  of  parents  and 
seven  children,  all  have  indulged  hope,  except  one 
son  who  was  absent  at  sea.  A  widow,  the  mother  of 
seven  children,  some  of  them  pious  before,  now  has 
hope  of  all  the  others.  The  whole  family  now  belong 
to  the  church. 

"  Greatly  are  we  indebted  to  a  number  of  neigh- 
boring ministers  whose  labors  were  of  great  use. 
Peculiar  are  our  obligations  to  the  Rev.  Asahel  Net- 
tleton,  who  was  much  with  us,  and  whose  labors  were 
eminently  blessed,  reminding  us  of  'the  chariots  of 


236  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

Israel,  and  the  horsemen  thereof.'  Though  in  this 
work  there  has  been  the  strongest  coincidence  be- 
tween the  means  used  and  the  success,  and  between 
the  prayerfulness  of  Christians  and  the  conviction 
and  conversion  of  sinners,  yet  God  has  displayed  his 
glorious  sovereignty,  as  well  as  faithfulness.  The 
work  is  emphatically  his.  To  him  all  the  glory  is 
due.     To  him  let  it  be  given,  now  and  evermore." 

From  K-ev.  Dr.   Ashbel   Grreen,   late  President  of  the  College 
of  New  Jersey  at  Princeton,  to  Rev.  Dr.  Sprague. 

After  glancing  at  the  earlier  history  of  the  col- 
lege, Dr.  Green  says,  "In  the  spring  of  1782,  when 
I  became  a  member  of  the  institution,  the  walls  of  the 
building  were  still  perforated  in  a  number  of  places, 
the  effect  of  the  cannon  balls  which  had  passed  through 
them  from  the  artillery  of  the  American  army,  to 
drive  out  a  British  foe  that  had  taken  shelter  there. 

"  While  I  was  a  member  of  college  there  were  but 
two  professors  of  religion  among  the  students,  and 
not  more  than  five  or  six  who  scrupled  to  use  profane 
language  in  common  conversation.  To  the  influence 
of  the  American  war  succeeded  that  of  the  French 
revolution,  still  more  pernicious.  The  open  and 
avowed  infidelity  of  Paine,  and  other  writers  of  the 
same  character,  produced  incalculable  injury  to  relig- 
ion and  morals  throughout  our  whole  country;  and 
its  effect  on  young  men  who  valued  themselves  for 
genius,  and  were  fond  of  novel  speculations,  was  the 
greatest  of  all.  Dr.  Smith,  then  President  of  the  col- 
lege, told  me  that  one  man  who  sent  his  son,  stated 
explicitly  in  a  letter  that  not  a  word  was  ever  to  he  said 
to  him  on  the  subject  of  religion.     The  youth  was  re- 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  23T 

fused  admittance.  The  tendency  to  dissipation  and 
dissolute  morals  which  had  long  prevailed,  had  risen 
to  a  most  fearful  height  when  I  was  called  to  the 
presidency  in  the  autumn  of  1812." 

After  two  years  of  faithful  and  abundant  labors 
to  effect  a  reformation,  he  perceived  that  "  there  was 
a  marked  attention  to  the  religious  duties  of  the  col- 
lege. Every  religious  service  was  attended  with  a 
solemnity  that  was  very  impressive.  In  the  second 
week  of  January,  1815,  without  any  unusual  occur- 
rence in  providence,  without  any  alarming  event, 
without  any  extraordinary  preaching,  without  any 
special  instruction,  or  other  means  that  might  be  sup- 
posed peculiarly  adapted  to  interest  the  mind,  the 
effect  became  more  apparent.  In  about  four  weeks 
there  were  very  few  individuals  in  the  college  who 
were  not  deeply  impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  impor- 
tance of  spiritual  and  eternal  things.  There  was 
scarcely  a  room,  perhaps  not  one,  which  was  not  a 
place  of  earnest  secret  devotion.  For  a  time  it  seem- 
ed as  if  the  whole  of  our  charge  was  pressing  into 
the  kingdom  of  God.  The  result  was,  that  of  one 
hundred  and  five  students,  there  were  more  than  forty 
in  regard  to  whom  favorable  hopes  were  entertained 
that  they  were  the  subjects  of  renewing  grace. 

"The  means  which  were  employed  and  blessed  of 
God  in  producing  the  revival,  were  chiefly  the  study 
of  the  holy  Scriptures,  accompanied  with  comments 
on  the  portion  read,  and  practical  application  of  the 
leading  truths  contained  'in  it.  God  has  remarkably 
honored  and  blessed  his  word.  Appropriate  ad- 
dresses were  frequently  made,  and  the  public  exer- 


238  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

cises  were  conducted  with  a  special  view  to  religious 
edification. 

''The  few  youths  who  were  previously  pious  had 
for  more  than  a  year  been  earnestly  engaged  in 
prayer  for  this  event.  When  they  perceived  the 
general  and  increasing  seriousness,  several  of  them 
agreed  to  speak  privately  and  tenderly  to  their  par- 
ticular acquaintances  on  the  subject  of  religion ;  and 
what  they  said  was  in  almost  every  instance  not  only 
well  received,  but  those  with  whom  they  conversed 
became  earnestly  engaged  in  those  exercises  which  it 
is  hoped  have  issued  in  genuine  piety. 

"In  preaching  on  the  Lord's  day  morning,  sub- 
jects were  selected  suited  to  the  existing  state  of  the 
college ;  a  weekly  lecture,  intended  for  the  students 
exclusively,  was  given  every  Tuesday  evening;  a 
prayer-meeting  was  held  every  Friday  evening,  at 
which  one  of  the  theological  professors  commonly 
made  an  address ;  a  prayer-meeting  was  every  even- 
ing held  by  the  students  themselves,  at  which  a  large 
proportion  of  the  whole  college  attended;  smaller 
and  more  select  associations  for  prayer  were  also 
formed;  the  individuals  whose  minds  were  anxious 
were,  as  often  as  they  requested  it,  carefully  con- 
versed and  prayed  with  in  private ;  writings  of  ap- 
proved character  on  doctrinal  and  practical  religion 
were  recommended,  and  a  short  system  of  Questions 
and  Counsel"^  was  drawn  up  by  myself  for  the  use  of 
those  who  appeared  to  have  entered  on  a  life  of  prac- 
tical piety. 

*  These  Questions  and  Counsel  constitute  No.  113  of  the 
American  Tract  Society's  series. 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  239 

"The  fruits  of  this  revival  were  happy  and  last- 
ing ;  for  although  a  number  lost  their  impressions,  yet 
there  are  a  goodly  number  now  in  public  life  who  are 
bringing  forth  the  fruits  of  that  renovated  nature 
which  was  imparted  to  them  by  the  gracious  Spirit 
of  God  in  this  revival.  I  once  counted  the  number 
of  ministers  of  the  gospel  whose  conversion  was  be- 
lieved to  have  taken  place  at  that  time.  I  forget 
what  the  number  was,  but  I  remember  I  thought  it 
greater  than  that  produced  on  any  similar  occasion 
in  Nassau-hall. 

"There  were  two  other  periods  during  my  presi- 
dency, at  which  hopes  were  excited  that  we  were  on 
the  eve  of  another  general  revival.  But  though  the 
favorable  appearances  passed  away  without  realizing 
this  hope,  it  was  not  without  leaving  several  monu- 
ments of  divine  grace,  some  of  them  very  remarka- 
ble. May  God  soon  grant  a  general  revival  to  an 
institution  consecrated  by  its  founders  to  the  promo- 
tion of  science  in  union  with  piety,  and  in  behalf  of 
which  many  fervent  prayers,  both  of  the  living  and 
the  dead,  have  ascended  to  the  throne  of  mercy." 

From  Rev.  Dr.  John  McDowell,  E  1  izabethtown,  New  Jersey. 
1812-1825. 

In  a  letter  to  Rev.  Dr.  Sprague,  Dr.  McDowell 
gives  a  record  of  revivals  in  1772  and  1784;  and  one 
in  1807,  which  apparently  commenced  in  connection 
with  "a  powerful  sermon  on  prayer  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Gideon  Blackburn,"  and  continued  about  eighteen 
months,  as  the  fruits  of  which  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty  were  added  to  the  church.  He  proceeds  to 
say: 


240  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

"Another  revival  visibly  commenced  in  December, 
1812.  It  was  on  a  communion  Sabbath.  There  was 
nothing  peculiarly  arousing  in  the  preaching.  I  was 
not  expecting  such  an  event.  I  saw  nothing  unusual 
in  the  appearance  of  the  congregation ;  and  it  was 
not  until  after  the  services  of  the  day  were  ended, 
when  several  called  in  deep  distress  to  ask  me  what 
they  should  do  to  be  saved,  that  I  knew  that  the 
Lord  was  specially  in  this  place.  This  was  a  day  of 
such  power,  (though  I  knew  it  not  at  the  time,)  that 
as  many  as  thirty  who  afterwards  joined  the  church, 
were  then  first  awakened.  And  it  is  a  remarkable 
circumstance,  that  the  same  powerful  influence  was 
experienced  on  the  same  day  in  both  of  the  Presby- 
terian churches  in  the  neighboring  town  of  Newark. 
It  was  also  communion-season  in  both  those  churches. 
This  revival  continued  about  a  year ;  and  the  number 
of  persons  added  to  the  communion  of  this  church  as 
its  fruits,  was  about  one  hundred  and  ten. 

"About  the  beginning  of  February,  1817,  this 
church  was  again  visited  with  a  great  revival  of  re- 
ligion. It  commenced  most  signally,  as  an  immediate 
answer  to  the  united  prayers  of  God's  people.  The 
session,  impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  comparatively 
low  state  of  religion  among  us,  agreed  to  spend  an 
afternoon  together  in  prayer.  The  congregation  were 
informed  of  this  on  the  Sabbath,  and  a  request  made 
that  Christians  would  at  the  same  time  retire  to  their 
closets,  and  spend  a  season  in  prayer  for  the  influen- 
ces of  the  Spirit  to  descend  upon  us.  The  season 
appointed  was  the  next  afternoon ;  and  that  evening 
was  the  montlily  concert  of  prayer,  which  was  unusu- 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  241 

ally  full  and  solemn;  and  before  the  week  was  out, 
it  was  manifest  that  the  Lord  was  in  the  midst  of  us, 
in  a  very  special  manner.  Many  cases  of  awakening 
came  to  my  knowledge,  and  the  work  soon  spread 
throughout  the  congregation.  This  revival  was  mark- 
ed, not  by  the  deep  distress  of  the  preceding,  but  by 
■a  general  weeping  in  religious  meetings.  There  was 
doubtless  much  of  sympathy.  A  larger  proportion 
than  usual  of  the  subjects  were  young,  and  many  of 
them  children.  Some  were  long  in  darkness,  but 
most  of  them,  much  sooner  than  in  either  of  the  former 
revivals  of  my  ministry,  professed  to  have  embraced 
the  Saviour.  The  number  in  the  congregation  who 
appeared  to  be  seriously  impressed,  amounted  to  sev- 
eral hundreds.  The  special  attention  continued  about 
a  year ;  and  the  number  added  to  the  communion  of 
the  church  was  about  one  hundred  and  eighty. 

"At  the  close  of  the  year  1819,  it  pleased  a  gra- 
cious God  to  grant  to  this  church  another  season  of 
special  refreshing,  which  continued  about  a  year ;  and 
the  number  added  to  the  communion  of  the  church  as 
its  fruits,  was  about  sixty. 

"In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1824,  there  was 
a  considerable  increase  of  attention  to  the  subject  of 
religion,  which  continued  through  the  year  1825. 
About  sixty  were  added  to  the  communion  of  the 
church  during  this  time,  as  the  fruits  of  this  special 
influence.  But  the  work  did  not  terminate  with  this 
ingathering.  These  were  but  as  drops  before  a  mighty 
shower.  About  the  beginning  of  December,  1825, 
the  work  was  greatly  increased.  It  commenced  visi- 
bly on  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer,  appointed  by  the 

Pav.  Sketches  11 


242  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

synod  of  New  Jersey,  on  account  of  tlie  absence  of 
divine  influences  from  their  churches  generally.  With- 
in a  few  weeks  many  were  awakened  and  brought  to 
seek  the  Lord.  This  revival,  with  few  exceptions, 
was  not  marked  by  deep  distress,  and  the  subjects  of 
it  generally,  soon  professed  to  hope  in  Christ.  It 
continued  through  the  year  1826,  during  which  time- 
about  one  hundred  and  thirty  were  added  to  the  com- 
munion of  this  church,  as  its  fruits." 

REVIVAL  IN   PITTSFIELD,  MASS.,  AS  WITNESSED  BY 
THE  AUTHOR,  IN  1821. 

The  most  extensive  and  powerful  revival  that  I 
have  ever  witnessed,  took  place  in  Pittsfield,  Mass., 
in  the  summer  of  1821.  We  had  enjoyed  a  cheering 
time  of  refreshing  the  year  before,  which  brought  in 
about  fifty  additions  to  the  church;  but  it  reached 
very  few  of  the  prominent  and  influential  members 
of  the  congregation,  and  there  were  but  few  of  that 
class  then  in  the  church.  That  first  revival  had  ap- 
parently come  to  a  close,  and  the  fruits  had  been 
mostly  gathered  in,  before  the  opening  of  the  spring 
of  1821.  The  strong  men  had  not  bowed  themselves 
at  the  foot  of  the  cross,  and  we  were  afraid  that  be- 
fore another  such  season  should  return,  many  of  them 
would  be  in  their  graves. 

It  was  about  the  middle  of  May,  that  the  Rev. 
Asahel  Nettleton,  who  had  been  for  several  years 
laboring  in  revivals  with  wonderful  success,  came  un- 
expectedly to  make  me  a  visit,  and  as  he  said,  "to 
rest  a  while ;"  for  he  was  very  much  worn  down  by 
his  almost  incredible  labors. 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  243 

His  fame  as  a  revival  preacher  had  come  before 
him.  Though  he  kept  himself  close,  it  soon  became 
known  that  he  was  here,  and  many  were  anxious  to 
hear  him,  as  much  from  curiosity  perhaps  as  any 
thing  else.  Though  I  knew  his  need  of  the  rest  which 
he  came  to  find  in  the  bosom  of  my  family,  I  rather 
urged  him  to  gratify  them  by  preaching  once,  if  no 
more.  He  declined,  till  after  two  Sabbaths,  I  think, 
when,  as  I  was  providentially  absent,  the  funeral  of  a 
child  on  a  week-day  brought  him  out.  There  was  a 
large  gathering,  and  I  presume  he  saw  something 
which  indicated  the  return  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  though 
nobody  else  did.  The  next  Sabbath  he  preached 
once,  and  it  seemed  evident  to  him  at  least,  that  the 
Spirit  was  moving  upon  some  during  the  services  of 
the  day.  These  indications  gradually  increased,  till 
the  church  began  to  be  encouraged  with  the  hope 
that  we  might  have  another  revival,  which  all  felt 
was  greatly  needed;  for  many  more  were  left,  than 
had  been  taken  the  preceding  year.  Mr.  Nettleton 
saw  by  this  time,  if  not  before,  that  here  was  harvest 
work  to  be  done,  and  that  he  must  not  rest  too  long. 
He  remained  with  us  about  three  months,  including 
one  or  two  short  visits  to  neighboring  fields,  which 
were  white  for  the  reapers. 

I  published  a  narrative  of  the  work  the  next  year 
in  the  Christian  Intelligencer,  the  substance  of  which 
I  shall  repeat,  though  I  have  it  not  now  before  me. 
And  I  shall  venture  to  give  it  more  at  length,  than  I 
can  find  room  for  any  other  revival  of  those  remarka- 
ble years  of  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit — not  because 
the  number  of  converts  was  greater,  or  so  great  as  in 


244  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

some  other  places,  but  because  I  was  an  eye-witness 
and  a  coworker  in  the  field  of  divine  wonders ;  and 
also,  as  at  the  critical  stage  of  the  revival  the  great 
adversary  did  his  best  to  stop  it,  to  show  how  signal- 
ly God  defeated  him. 

The  revival  did  not  break  out  suddenly,  as  has 
been  often  the  case,  but  there  was  a  growing  solem- 
nity visible  in  the  congregation,  which  quite  early  in 
June  encouraged  us  to  let  it  be  known,  in  a  still  way, 
that  we  should  be  happy  to  meet  any  who  might  be 
disposed  to  come  to  my  house  for  a  short  meeting 
the  next  evening.  It  was  understood  to  be  for  in- 
quirers, if  there  were  any.  A  larger  number  than 
we  had  dared  to  expect  came,  and  it  was  noticeable 
that  most  of  them  were  from  the  more  prominent  and 
leading  families  in  the  village.  We  could  not  help 
regarding  this  as  a  favorable  omen,  most  of  them 
having  been  passed  by  in  the  former  revival.  It  was 
a  sort  of  test  meeting,  and  from  that  time  the  work 
advanced  and  spread  rapidly  ;  but  not  without  excit- 
ing opposition  on  the  part  of  some  who  were  capable 
of  wielding  a  wide  influence. 

Something  they  thought  must  be  done  to  check 
the  epidemic,  before  it  should  come  into  their  fami- 
lies, and  get  beyond  control.  What  should  it  be? 
It  would  not  be  safe  to  come  out  openly,  as  so  many 
were  already  asking  what  they  must  do  to  be  saved. 
St.  John's  day,  as  it  was  called,  (June  25,)  was  near 
at  hand ;  and  it  was  resolved  to  hold,  in  Pittsfield,  a 
grand  festival  of  all  the  masonic  lodges  round  about. 
We  could  not  say  that  the  ruling  motive  on  the  part 
of  those  who  sent  out  the  invitation,  was  to  put  a 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  245 

stop  to  the  revival ;  but  the  movement  was  so  sudden, 
that,  taken  in  connection  with  all  the  circumstances, 
it  looked  very  much  like  it. 

A  very  popular  speaker,  who  had  once  been  an 
approved  minister  of  the  gospel,  was  engaged  to  come 
and  deliver  the  oration.  We  were  distressed.  We 
exceedingly  feared  that  such  a  gathering  would  divert 
the  minds  of  the  people  from  the  great  salvation 
which  was  then  so  freely  offered ;  but  we  could  not 
prevent  it.  The  occasion  called  for  earnest  prayer 
for  direction,  and  that  God  would  graciously  inter- 
pose and  prevent  the  dreaded  consequences.  One 
thing  we  could  do.  The  orator  chosen  had,  as  I  have 
just  said,  once  been  a  minister.  We — Mr.  Nettleton 
and  myself — addressed  him  a  joint  letter,  saying  we 
understood  he  had  engaged  to  come;  that  there  was 
a  very  interesting  revival  in  progress  here,  which  we 
presumed  he  had  not  heard  of;  that  we  did  not  write 
to  dissuade  him  from  coming,  but  that  we  hoped  he 
would  give  his  discourse  such  a  shape  as  to  interfere 
as  little  as  possible  with  the  work  of  the  Lord.  He 
came.  The  day  was  very  fine.  The  anniversary  was 
very  largely  attended  by  the  masons  from  all  quar- 
ters. The  church  was  crowded.  We  were  there, 
and  greatly  relieved.  The  discourse  was  more  like 
a  sermon  than  a  popular  oration.  There  was  noth- 
ing in  it  to  which  we  could  object,  but  a  good  deal 
which  was  rather  calculated  to  promote  the  revival 
than  to  check  it.  We  thanked  God,  and  took  cour- 
age. 

The  masons  were  astonished.  What  could  it 
mean?    They  were  so  excited,  that  they  could  not 


246  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

help  expressing  their  disappointment  to  the  speaker, 
and  asking  him  what  he  meant.  He  excused  himself 
by  sajdng  that  he  had  been  induced  to  give  that 
religious  shape  to  his  address  by  a  letter  which  Mr. 
Nettleton  and  I  had  written  him.  This  brought  down 
upon  us  a  storm  of  vituperation  for  our  interference. 
But  the  Lord  was  on  our  side.  He  had  undertaken 
to  accomplish  a  great  work  in  Pittsfield,  and  neither 
earth  nor  hell  could  prevent  it.  We  could  not  see 
that  the  masonic  festival  hindered  the  revival  at  all. 

But  the  disappointment  and  opposition  were  soon 
manifested  in  another  form.  The  people  of  the  town 
had  been  in  the  habit,  on  the  fourth  of  July,  of  cele- 
brating the  declaration  of  American  Independence, 
ever  since  it  was  declared;  and  at  the  close  of  each 
festival  with  toasts  and  speeches  and  drums  and  can- 
non, to  appoint  a  committee  to  make  arrangements 
for  the  next  year.  Such  a  committee  had  been  ap- 
pointed the  year  before.  As  the  revival  was  now 
becoming  general  and  powerful,  we  were  very  desir- 
ous of  having  a  religious  celebration,  and  inviting 
our  friends  in  the  county  to  come  in  and  enjoy  it  with 
us.  I  accordingly  inquired  of  the  committee  whether 
it  was  their  intention  to  have  the  usual  festive  cele- 
bration ;  stating  that,  if  it  might  be  dispensed  with 
under  the  present  unusual  circumstances,  we  should 
be  glad  to  substitute  a  religious  service,  and  that  we 
found  a  great  many  were  in  favor  of  it.  The  com- 
mittee cheerfully  assented  to  the  proposal,  and  we 
made  our  arrangements  accordingly. 

Thus,  as  to  the  regular  arrangements,  the  matter 
was  settled  in  our  favor ;  and  we  supposed  there  would 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  24T 

be  no  interruption.  But  we  were  mistaken;  those 
who  wanted  the  customary  noisy  celebration,  deter- 
mined not  to  be  deprived  of  it.  So  the  young  men 
resolved  to  have  an  oration  and  a  dinner  at  the  usual 
hours.  How  far  they  were  encouraged  by  some  older 
men  opposed  to  the  revival,  did  not  openly  appear ; 
but  that  they  were  to  some  extent,  was  not  doubted 
at  the  time.  The  oration  was  delivered  in  the  fore- 
noon, and  at  two  o'clock  our  public  meeting  was  held. 
The  meeting-house  had  never  been  filled  with  a  more 
serious  and  respectable  congregation.  The  day  was 
fine,  and  a  large  number  of  our  friends  from  abroad 
were  there.  I  tried  to  persuade  Mr.  Nettleton  to 
preach;  but  as  he  positively  declined,  I  was  obliged 
to  make  the  best  preparations  I  could.  My  text  was, 
'"'^  If  the  Son  shall  make  you  free,  ye  shall  be  free  indeed." 
John  8  :  36. 

Though  there  was  some  noise  outside  from  the 
commencement  of  the  services,  it  did  not  appear  that 
there  was  any  intention  to  disturb  us,  till  the  sermon 
was  about  half  through.  Becoming  impatient  when 
the  guests  had  finished  their  dinner,  and  loaded  the 
four  pounder,  and  got  primed  for  the  toasts,  they  first 
sent  their  band  with  drums  and  fifes  to  march  round 
the  house,  and  warn  us  that  it  was  time  to  close  and 
leave  the  ground.  One  or  two  gentlemen  went  out 
to  remonstrate,  but  they  were  disregarded.  I  went 
on  with  my  discourse,  and  I  believe  made  myself 
heard. 

Finding  that  their  martial  music  did  not  succeed, 
they  determined  next  to  try  what  powder  would  do. 
The  first  discharge  was  so  unexpected,  that  it  almost 


248  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

started  the  whole  congregation  from  their  seats.  The 
high-sheriff  of  the  county,  with  one  or  two  of  our 
most  respectable  citizens,  went  out  to  persuade  them 
to  desist ;  but  they  would  not.  Many  within  turned 
pale,  but  none  of  the  audience  retired.  By  the  third 
round  they  were  entirely  composed,  and  a  more  sol- 
emn assembly  I  never  looked  upon.  How  many 
rounds  were  discharged  I  cannot  remember,  but  as 
the  cannonading  went  on,  and  I  drew  towards  the 
close  of  my  written  discourse,  it  came  so  aptly  in 
my  way  that  I  couldn't  help  adding  something  to  the 
improvement,  by  contrasting  the  liberty  wherewith 
Christ  makes  his  children  free,  with  the  bondage  of 
Satan's  servants  without.  This  I  suppose  added  ten 
or  fifteen  minutes  to  the  length  of  my  discourse,  after 
which  Dr.  Shepard  of  Lenox  closed  with  prayer,  and 
the  evening  lecture  was  appointed  from  the  desk. 
The  great  audience  then  retired  as  if  nothing  had 
happened,  only  more  deeply  impressed. 

As  we  went  out,  the  sheriff  expressed  his  determi- 
nation to  make  the  disturbers  smart  for  it;  but  I 
begged  him  to  do  no  such  thing:  "They  have  not 
injured  us,  but  shot  themselves  dead,  and  don't  med- 
dle with  their  remains :  '  The  Lord  of  hosts  is  with 
us,  the  God  of  Jacob  is  our  refuge.'"  And  so  it 
proved.  It  needed  no  enemy  to  spike  their  cannon, 
or  to  scatter  them.  Whereas,  on  all  former  celebra- 
tions here,  the  noise  was  kept  up  to  a  late  hour  in 
the  evening,  the  green  was  now  entirely  forsaken  by 
sundown,  and  the  stillness  of  the  evening  throughout 
the  village  was  like  the  Sabbath.  The  lecture  at 
half-past  seven  was  crowded,  and  unusually  solemn. 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  249 

It  was  on  that  occasion,  that  Mr.  Nettleton  took  for 
his  text  those  urgent  words  of  the  angels  to  Lot,  "  Up, 
get  ye  out  of  this  place,  for  the  Lord  will  destroy  this 
city  ;"  and  so  vivid  was  his  description  of  that  sudden 
and  awful  destruction,  that  not  a  few  of  the  audience 
involuntarily  turned  their  faces  to  the  windows,  as 
if  the  storm  of  fire  and  brimstone  had  actually  come 
down  upon  the  place." 

Taken  altogether,  the  triumph  of  the  day  and  the 
evening  was  truly  sublime.  It  was  wonderful  to  wit- 
ness with  what  power  the  Spirit  of  God  triumphed. 
A  new  impulse  was  given  to  the  revival.  From  that 
time,  there  was  no  more  open  opposition  to  the  work. 
Whatever  any  might  have  felt,  they  were  afraid  to 
show  it.  Some  of  those  who  had  been  active,  if  not 
ringleaders  in  the  disturbance,  were  afterwards  hope- 
fully converted.  The  work  went  on  with  great  power 
through  the  months  of  July  and  August,  and  extended 
far  into  the  autumn.  It  was  such  a  summer  as  Pitts- 
field  never  saw  before,  nor  since. 

The  narrative  would  be  quite  incomplete  if  I  were 
to  close  it  h^e.  In  all  revivals  God  works  by  means 
and  instruments,  and  some  may  be  glad  to  know  what 
course  was  here  adopted. 

In  the  first  place  it  was  fully  understood  between 
Mr.  Nettleton  and  myself,  that  as  I  was  the  pastor, 
he  was  to  be  the  helper,  and  not  the  main  director. 
He  could  not  have  been  persuaded  to  make  the  ap- 
pointments, and  tell  me  when  and  where  I  should  aid 
him.  He  was  not  the  man  for  that  anywhere,  and  if 
he  had  been,  I  certainly  should  not  have  come  into 

any  such  arrangement.     I  always  consulted  him  as  a 

11* 


250  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

matter  of  course,  for  he  knew  incomparably  better 
than  I  did,  what  means  had  been  most  successful  in 
the  progress  of  revivals.  But  it  was  my  parish,  and 
not  his.  In  placing  me  here,  the  Head  of  the  church 
had  devolved  upon  me  a  responsibility,  which  I  did 
not  feel  at  liberty  to  throw  off.  And  with  this  un- 
derstanding, I  do  not  believe  that  any  two  preachers 
ever  labored  more  harmoniously  together  than  we 
did. 

Our  general  course  of  preaching  and  incidental 
labors  was  as  follows :  Three  discourses  on  the  Sab- 
bath, one  of  which  was  always  in  the  evening.  Two 
public  lectures  on  week-day  evenings,  preceded  by  a 
short  prayer-meeting  a  little  before  sundown ;  occa- 
sional lectures  and  prayer-meetings  in  the  outdis- 
tricts,  one  object  of  which  was  to  bring  as  many  as 
we  could  to  attend  the  central  lectures  ;  an  inquiry 
meeting  every  Monday  evening,  and  a  church  prayer- 
meeting  at  the  same  hour.  Besides  these,  a  great 
many  smaller  neighborhood  meetings  were  attended, 
connected  with  visiting  from  house  to  house  as  we 
could  find  time.  I  also  held  a  meeting  once  a  week 
with  as  many  aged  members  of  my  flock,  who  were 
not  professors  of  religion,  as  I  could  collect,  and  there 
is  reason  to  hope  that  some  of  them  were  brought  in 
at  the  eleventh  hour. 

In  our  discourses  in  season  and  out  of  season,  we 
did  not  shun  to  declare  "  all  the  counsel  of  God,"  as 
we  understood  it.  Mr.  Nettleton's  preaching  was 
"  not  in  the  enticing  words  of  man's  wisdom,  but  in 
demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  with  power."  It  was 
plain,  earnest,  direct,  searching,  driving  the  sinner 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  251 

from  all  his  refuges ;  now  making  the  law  thunder  as 
but  few  preachers  can,  and  then  from  a  full  heart 
pouring  out  the  melting  invitations  of  the  gospel. 
Though  there  were  diversities  of  operations,  for  the 
most  part  the  converts  were  led  to  Calvary  by  the 
way  of  Sinai.  They  experienced  a  law  work  before 
they  closed  in  with  the  terms  of  the  gospel.  "  When 
the  commandment  came,  sin  revived,  and  they  died ;" 
and  when  the  Spirit  raised  them  to  a  new  life,  they 
lived  all  the  better  for  it. 

The  subjects  of  the  work  were  chiefly  heads  of 
families ;  some  of  them  below,  and  not  many  of  them 
much  above  middle  age.  They  were  in  the  midst  of 
life,  and  more  than  any  equal  number  of  the  congre- 
gation exercised  a  controlling  influence  in  the  com- 
munity. Among  them  were  our  principal  lawyers, 
doctors,  merchants,  and  men  of  standing  and  busi- 
ness in  the  town.  And  it  was  very  interesting  to 
notice  how,  as  they  were  brought  out  one  after  an- 
other, they  went  at  once  and  reported  to  their  friends 
of  the  same  class  what  a  Saviour  they  had  found, 
urging  them  to  come  to  the  meetings  and  see.  It 
reminded  us  of  the  manner  in  which  the  disciples  of 
Christ  were  brought  to  him  one  after  another,  as 
recorded  in  the  first  chapter  of  John.  "John  (the 
Baptist)  stood,  and  two  of  his  disciples  ;  and  looking 
upon  Jesus  as  he  walked,  he  saith,  '  Behold  the  Lamb 
of  God!  and  they  followed  Jesus.  One  of  the  two 
who  heard  John  speak  and  followed  him,  was  An- 
drew, Simon  Peter's  brother.  He  first  findeth  his 
own  brother  Simon,  and  saith  unto  him.  We  have 
found  the  Messias,  which  is,  being  interpreted,  the 


252  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

Christ.  And  he  brought  him  to  Jesus.  The  day  fol- 
lowing Jesus  would  go  forth  into  Galilee,  and  findeth 
Philip,  and  saith  unto  him,  Follow  me.  Philip  find- 
eth Nathanael,  and  saith  unto  him,  We  have  found 
him  of  whom  Moses  in  the  law  and  the  prophets  did 
write,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  son  of  Joseph.  And 
Nathanael  said  unto  him,  Can  any  good  thing  come 
out  of  Nazareth?  Philip  saith  unto  him.  Come  and 
see."  So  it  was  here,  and  so  it  ought  always  to  be 
in  a  revival.  Just  as  soon  as  Andrew,  finds  the  Sav- 
iour, he  should  go  and  bring  in  Peter.  So  Philip 
should  find  Nathanael,  and  bring  him  also  to  Christ, 
that  they  may  all  rejoice  together  in  their  disciple- 
ship. 

In  the  progress  of  the  revival,  a  great  many  inci' 
dents  occurred  which  heightened  the  interest  of  the 
work,  but  I  have  room  for  only  two. 

One  Monday  morning  early,  a  colored  woman 
about  forty  years  old  came  to  my  house  bowed  down 
as  if  by  some  great  calamity.  "  Dinah,"  I  said,  "  I  am 
glad  to  see  you;  but  what  is  the  matter?"  "Oh,  I 
don't  know,  but  I  feel  dreadfully."  "  How  long  have 
you  felt  so  ?"  "  Ever  since  yesterday,  when  you  was 
preaching  it  seemed  as  if  a  knife  was  stuck  right  into 
my  heart."  How  could  I  help  calling  to  mind  in- 
stantly, Peter's  sermon  on  the  day  of  pentecost? 
"When  they  heard  this,  they  were  pricked  in  their 
hearts,  and  cried  out.  Men  and  brethren,  what  shall 
we  do?"  Here  was  a  poor  woman  who  had  been 
brought  up  a  slave,  and  could  not  read  a  word,  feel- 
ing just  as  they  did,  and  using  nearly  the  same  lan- 
guage, without  knowing  or  suspecting  it.    How  could 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  253 

I  doubt,  how  can  anybody  doubt,  that  if  it  was  the 
Spirit  of  God  tliat  pricked  the  hearts  of  Peter's  hear- 
ers, it  was  the  same  Spirit  that  seemed  like  a  knife 
piercing  Dinah's  heart;  corresponding  too  as  it  did 
with  that  other  scripture,  "  The  word  of  God  is  quick 
and  powerful,  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword.'' 
Though  Dinah  couldn't  tell  what  ailed  her,  I  soon 
found  that  she  was  in  deep  distress  for  her  soul.  She 
of  course  needed  a  great  deal  of  instruction ;  but  in  a 
few  weeks  she  was  brought  out  of  darkness  into  mar- 
vellous light,  joined  the  church,  and  adorned  her  pro- 
fession to  the  day  of  her  death. 

The  other  was  the  case  of  an  ignorant,  swearing, 
intemperate  man,  one  of  the  vilest  of  the  vile,  who 
rarely,  if  ever,  attended  public  worship  anywhere. 
One  Sabbath  afternoon,  in  the  midst  of  the  revival, 
he  strayed  into  the  church ;  he  could  not  tell  why ; 
took  his  seat  near  the  door  so  that  he  could  easily 
slip  out,  but  remained  quiet  till  the  sermon  commenc- 
ed. The  words  of  my  text  were,  It  is  the  last  time. 
As  he  said  afterwards,  it  struck  him  to  the  heart, 
and  threw  him  into  the  greatest  agitation.  His  first 
thought  was,  that  he  would  go  at  once  to  the  tavern 
and  drive  it  off  with  a  dram.  But  somehow  he  found 
himself  fastened  to  his  seat  till  the  meeting  closed, 
and  then  he  knew  not  where  to  go,  or  what  to  do. 
The  arrow  had  struck  too  deep  to  be  extracted  by 
any  but  a  divine  hand.  A  scene  of  terrible  distress 
followed.  For  a  number  of  days  he  was  almost  in 
the  horrors  of  despair.  Prayer  was  offered  continu- 
ally for  him,  and  he  was  assured  that  the  mercies  of 
God  were  not  clean  gone  for  ever,  if  he  would  repent 


254  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

and  cast  himself  upon  Christ  to  wash  away  his  sins. 
How  long  he  remained  in  this  condition  I  do  not 
remember,  but  at  length  light  began  gradually  to 
break  in  upon  his  mind.  He  embraced  a  humble 
hope  that  God  had  brought  him  up  out  of  the  horri- 
ble pit  and  the  miry  clay,  and  after  a  probation  of 
several  months  he  gave  such  evidence  of  a  saving 
change  that  he  was  received  into  the  church,  and  as 
those  who  knew  him  best  believed,  he  died  a  true 
penitent. 

Though  the  revival  commenced  early  in  the  sum- 
mer, as  I  have  already  stated,  none  of  the  subjects  of 
it  were  received  into  the  church  till  at  our  regular 
communion-season,  the  first  Sabbath  in  November. 
My  judgment  was  and  still  is,  that  as  a  general  rule, 
it  is  best  that  hopeful  converts  should  take  consider- 
able time  to  test  the  genuineness  of  their  hopes,  before 
making  a  public  profession.  It  appeared  to  me  that 
the  candidates  for  membership,  as  a  body,  needed  a 
good  deal  of  instruction  to  prepare  them  for  an  intel- 
ligent profession  of  their  faith  in  Christ. 

Accordingly,  besides  conversing  with  them  indi- 
vidually touching  the  reasons  of  the  hope  that  was 
in  them,  I  called  them  together  in  a  body,  and  spent 
several  evenings  in  explaining  to  them  our  confession 
of  faith  and  covenant,  article  by  article,  and  exhort- 
ing them  to  be  fully  persuaded  in  their  own  minds,  of 
the  scriptural  basis  of  our  creed,  before  subscribing 
to  it;  and  I  have  reason  to  think  that  no  evenings 
were  more  profitably  spent  than  these.  They  afford- 
ed full  scope  for  asking  and  answering  questions,  and 
examining  proof  texts ;  and  I  am  not  aware  of  a  sin- 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  255 

gle  case  of  departure  from  "  the  form  of  sound  words," 
as  we  believed  them  to  be,  in  our  articles. 

When  the  converts  presented  themselves  for  ad- 
mission, they  were  examined  one  by  one,  by  the  pas- 
tor and  a  committee,  in  presence  of  as  many  of  the 
church  as  chose  to  attend,  to  which  no  one  of  the 
number  made  any  objection.  When  the  time  arrived 
for  their  admission,  that  Sabbath-day  was  a  high  day. 
Nothing  like  it  had  ever  been  witnessed  in  the  histo- 
ry of  the  church.  I  think  the  number  who  came  for- 
ward was  eighty-Jive;  and  to  see  the  long  broad  aisle 
filled,  from  the  communion-table  down  to  the  door, 
with  disciples  hastening  as  it  were  to  meet  their  Mas- 
ter for  the  first  time  at  his  table,  was  a  spectacle 
which  caused  the  aged  fathers  and  mothers  to  weep 
for  joy,  and  filled  the  great  congregation  with  won- 
der and  awe.  While  there  were  persons  of  all  classes 
and  different  ages  standing  together  to  take  upon 
themselves  the  vows  of  their  consecration,  what  made 
the  scene  uncommonly  impressive  was,  that  there 
were  so  many  husbands  and  wives  of  our  most  influ- 
ential families — so  many  men  in  and  out  of  the  pro- 
fessions, who,  from  their  position  in  society,  would 
have  it  in  their  power  to  exert  so  wide  an  influence 
in  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  for  the  good  of  the  town. 

Though  in  the  providence  of  God  I  was  called 
two  years  after  to  leave  my  beloved  charge,  and  labor 
in  another  field,*  I  was  near  enough  to  keep  myself 
advised  of  the  Christian  walk  of  that  large  band  of 
professors ;  and  having  long  since  returned  to  reside 
in  Pittsfield,  it  affords  me  the  highest  satisfaction  to 
*  The  presidency  of  Amherst  college. 


256  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

be  able  to  say,  that  now,  at  the  end  of  thirty-seven 
years  from  the  time  of  their  public  espousals  to  Christ, 
there  has  not,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  been  a  single  case 
of  apostasy  from  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints, 
nor  of  yielding  to  the  mastery  of  any  of  those  habits 
which  disgrace  the  Christian  name,  and  drown  men 
in  destruction  and  perdition.  There  was  indeed  one 
of  the  number,  who  for  a  time  was  in  great  danger 
of  being  brought  into  bondage  again  to  bad  habits 
from  which  he  had  been  reclaimed,  insomuch  that 
the  church  stood  in  doubt  of  him,  but  he  did  not 
utterly  fall  away;  he  was  reclaimed,  and  gave  evi- 
dence that  God  had  restored  him  from  his  backslid- 
ings,  and  that  he  died  in  the  faith. 

To  the  foregoing  account  I  venture  to  append  a 
few  brief  extracts  of  a  letter  to  the  editor  of  the 
Charleston,  S.  C,  Intelligencer,  from  a  gentleman 
who  was  present  at  the  meeting  on  the  fourth  of 
July. 

"  The  opposers  of  the  revival,  finding  that  a  relig- 
ious celebration,  was  agreed  on,  resolved  to  have  a 
political  celebration.  They  occupied  the  church  in 
the  morning.  At  two  o'clock  they  who  loved  the 
Lord  began  to  assemble  in  the  same  place.  The 
church  was  crowded.  While  the  people  were  assem- 
bling, and  as  they  passed  near  the  rioters,  crackers 
were  repeatedly  exploded  to  annoy  them.  The  ser- 
vice began  and  went  sweetly  on.  Mr.  H ,  pas- 
tor of  the  church,  took  his  text  from  John  8  :  36,  "  If 
the  Son  shall  make  you  free,  ye  shall  be  free  in- 
deed.' Towards  the  close  of  the  sermon  the  word 
fire  was  heard,  and  our  ears  were  suddenly  stunned 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  25t 

by  the  report  of  a  cannon.  It  was  the  attack  of  the 
adversary,  and  well  kept  up.  But  unfortunately  for 
him,  every  shot  preached  louder  than  ten  thousand 
thunders.  Meanwhile  the  drums  beat,  the  iifers  play- 
ed as  they  marched  back  and  forth  before  the  church- 
door,  animated  by  the  music  of  the  cannon,  and  the 
hope  of  a  glorious  triumph  over  the  cause  of  God. 

"  Some  few  Christians  of  delicate  frame  and  quick 
sensibilities  were  agitated  and  alarmed,  and  others, 
though  not  intimidated,  dreaded  the  consequences  of 
this  violent  attack;  but  generally  there  were  high 
hopes  that  it  would  be  overruled  for  good.  And  so 
it  was.  So  skilfully  did  the  preacher  allude  to,  and 
apply  his  discourse  to  the  conduct  of  the  opposition 
out  of  doors — such  advantage  did  he  take  of  every 
blast  of  the  cannon,  and  every  play  of  the  drum,  by 
some  well-pointed  remark — that  it  went  like  a  two- 
edged  sword  to  the  hearts  of  listening  sinners.  In- 
deed, Mr.  H afterwards  informed  me,  that,  had 

he  previously  showed  the  heads  of  his  sermon  to  the 
riotors,  and  requested  them  when  he  reached  such  a 
point  to  fire,  a.nd  when  he  reached  another  point  to 
fire,  they  could  not  have  more  effectually  served  the 
purpose  of  the  discourse.  One  gentleman  who  had 
previously  been  somewhat  serious,  told  me  that  every 
shot  of  the  cannon  pierced  his  soul — filled  him  with 
indescribable  horror,  and  by  the  blessing  of  God 
brought  him  to  such  a  hatred  and  detestation  of  sin 
in  himself  and  others,  as  constrained  him  quickly  to 
fly  to  Christ. 

"  I  confess  I  trembled  for  the  ark  of  God.  After 
the  sermon  was  concluded,  I  went  and  expostulated 


258  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

witli  the  ringleader,  whose  companion  I  had  once 
been  in  wickedness,  and  over  whom  I  thought  I  might 
have  some  influence.  I  sat  near  Mr.  Nettleton,  and 
so  delighted  was  he  with  the  discourse,  and  so  accu- 
rately did  he  foresee  the  result,  that  whenever  an 
apt  allusion  dropped  from  the  lips  of  the  speaker,  he 
would  turn  round  with  a  holy  smile  and  whisper,  That 
is  good,  that  is  good.  Nothing  could  be  more  appro- 
priate, or  more  naturally  rise  out  of  the  text,  than 

Mr.  H ^s  description  of  the  miserable  bondage  in 

which  those  out  of  doors  were  serving  their  master. 

"  This  was  an  eventful  day  for  Pittsfield.  From 
that  time  Immanuel  gathered  his  trophies  from  among 
great  and  small.  They  who  thought  to  crush  the 
work  of  God  were  bitterly  disappointed.  The  fruits 
of  this  revival  were  one  hundred  and  forty  converts. 
Praise  the  Lord." 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  259 


CHAPTER  YII. 

THE  REVIVAL  EPOCH  ABOUT  1800— 

CONTINUED. 
BRIEF  NOTICES  OF  REVIVALS  — 1815  to  1825. 

"In  the  summer  of  1815,  there  was  a  great  revi- 
val in  the  town  of  Salisbury,  Conn.  The  subjects 
were  of  different  ages,  but  generally  youth.  As  the 
fi'uits  of  this  revival,  more  than  two  hundred  were 
admitted  into  the  churches. 

"  In  the  summer  of  1816,  the  revival  reached  Tor- 
rington.  At  the  communion  in  November,  the  first 
fruits  were  gathered  into  the  church,  and  the  number 
of  hopeful  converts  was  about  seventy. 

"  About  the  same  time,  the  Holy  Spirit  visited  the 
town  of  Waterbury  in  a  signal  manner,  with  his  con- 
victing and  converting  influences.  It  embraced  all 
the  variety  of  operations,  from  the  still  small  voice 
to  the  most  powerful  threatening  of  a  broken  law, 
and  embraced  all  ages  from  youth  to  grey  hairs. 
More  than  one  hundred  were  the  fruits  of  this  revi- 
val. 

"In  the  fall  of  1817,  there  was  a  revival  in  the 
parish  of  Rocky  Hill,  Conn.,  as  the  fruits  of  which, 
Dr.  Chapin  the  pastor  says  eighty-four  persons  be- 
came members  of  Christ^s  visible  church. 

"  In  the  fall  of  1818,  a  revival  was  enjoyed  in  the 
small  society  of  Ashford,  and  eighty -two  were  added 
to  the  church. 

"  In  the  spring  of  1819,  there  was  a  happy  revival 


260  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

in  the  town  of  Bolton.  The  convictions  of  the  sub- 
jects of  this  work  were  deep,  increased  rapidly,  and 
were  of  short  continuance.  Unconditional  submission 
was  urged  as  the  ground  of  their  acceptance  with 
God.  As  soon  as  this  was  exercised,  in  most  instan- 
ces the  sinner  was  filled  with  joy,  and  fifty-nine  were 
added  to  the  church. 

"The  same  year,  1819,  was  a  remarkable  year  of 
the  right  hand  of  the  Most  High,  in  the  county  of 
Saratoga,  New  York.  The  work  commenced  in  the 
summer,  at  Saratoga  springs,  and  about  forty  made  a 
profession  of  religion,  including  some  of  the  most 
prominent  persons  in  the  village. 

"About  the  same  time,  there  was  a  remarkable 
revival  in  Stillwater.  In  February,  a  hundred  and 
three  were  added  to  the  church,  and  about  a  hundred 
more  were  rejoicing  in  hope,  expecting  soon  to  be 
received. 

"In  Ballston  too  the  work  was  very  powerful, 
and  at  two  communion-seasons  a  hundred  and  eigh- 
teen were  added  to  the  church,  while  the  work  was 
still  increasing. 

"  In  the  adjoining  town  of  Milton,  the  work  was 
overwhelming.  In  less  than  two  months,  more  than  a 
hundred  and  fifty  were  brought  to  rejoice  in  hope.  In 
Amsterdam,  there  were  about  fifty  hopeful  conversions. 

In  a  letter  dated  Union  college,  April  28,  1820, 
Mr.  Nettleton  writes,  "I  have  no  time  to  relate  inter- 
esting particulars.  I  only  add,  that  some  of  the  most 
stout-hearted  and  heaven-daring  rebels  have  been  in 
the  most  awful  distress,  and  within  a  circle  whose 
diameter  is  about  twenty-four  miles,  not  less  than 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  261 

eight  hundred  souls  have  been  hopefully  born  into  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  since  last  September.  In  Malta, 
there  were  such  displays  of  the  power  of  God's  Spir- 
it in  crushing  the  opposition  of  the  natural  heart,  as 
are  very  seldom  seen.  The  Deist  and  Universalist, 
the  drunkard,  the  gambler,  and  the  swearer,  were 
alike  made  the  subjects  of  this  heart-breaking  work. 
It  was  a  place  of  great  spiritual  dearth,  and  like  the 
top  of  Gilboa,  had  never  been  wet  by  rain  or  dew ; 
but  the  Lord  now  converted  that  wilderness  into  a 
fruitful  field.  A  church  was  soon  organized  with 
eighty-five  members." 

In  the  same  year,  1820,  was  a  powerful  revival  in 
New  Haven,  and  about  three  hundred  were  added  to 
"the  churches.  It  extended  to  most  of  the  neighbor- 
ing towns.  Out  of  thirty-one  congregations  in  the 
county  of  New  Haven,  at  least  twenty-five  were  visit- 
ed, during  the  winter  and  spring,  with  the  special 
presence  of  the  Lord:,  and  it  was  estimated  that  with- 
in these  limits  between  fifteen  hundred  and  two  thou- 
sand souls  were  called  out  of  nature's  darkness  into 
marvellous  light. 

In  North  Killingworth  the  revival  was  very  pow- 
erful. It  commenced  about  the  last  of  August  in  a 
Bible-class,  and  rapidly  spread  over  the  town.  The 
hopeful  converts  were  a  hundred  and  sixty-two,  a 
hundred  and  seven  of  whom  united  with  the  church 
at  the  communion-season  in  January,  and  soon  after 
twenty-five  more. 

In  1822  and  1823  were  many  extensive  revivals 
in  the  eastern  part  of  Connecticut,  of  which  Mr.  Net- 
tleton  gives  the  following  summary  view : 


262  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

"Most  of  tliese  churches  have  in  years  past  been 
favored  with  seasons  more  or  less  reviving,  but  never 
with  such  a  general  and  powerful  refreshing  from  the 
presence  of  God.  The  following  towns  have  shared 
in  the  work.  In  Somers,  one  hundred  and  fifty  have 
been  made  the  subjects  of  divine  grace.  In  Tolland, 
one  hundred  and  thirty.  In  South  Wilbraham,  one 
hundred.  In  North  Coventry,  one  hundred  and  twen- 
ty. In  South  Coventry,  North  and  South  Mansfield, 
about  one  hundred  in  each.  In  Columbia,  forty.  In 
Lebanon,  ninety,  In  Goshen,  thirty.  In  Bozrah, 
seventy.     In  Montville,  ninety.     In  Chaplin,  fifty. 

"The  work  has  recently  commenced,  and  is  ad- 
vancing with  power  in  Hampton,  and  within  a  few 
weeks  fifty  or  more  are  rejoicing  in  hope.  Also,* 
within  a  few  weeks  past,  the  Spirit  of  God  has  de- 
scended with  overwhelming  power  in  Millington  and 
Colchester.  In  the  former  place  about  seventy,  and 
in  the  latter  sixty  are  already  rejoicing  in  hope. 
They  have  never  witnessed  the  like  in  the  power  and 
extent  of  the  work.  In  the  above  cluster  of  towns, 
all  contiguous,  more  than  thirteen  hundred  souls  have 
hopefully  received  a  saving  change  since  the  work 
began.  Of  these,  more  than  eight  hundred  have  al- 
ready made  a  profession  of  religion.  In  Chatham  also 
the  work  is  interesting,  and  about  seventy  are  rejoic- 
ing in  hope.  The  Lord  has  done  great  things  for 
Zion,  whereof  we  are  glad :  and  let  all  her  friends 
humbly  rejoice,  and  bow,  and  give  thanks,  and  exalt 
his  name  together." 

The  above  items  from  memoranda  in  the  life  of 
Dr.  Nettleton,  whose  labors  were  extended  to  other 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  263 

parts  of  the  northern  states,  and  for  three  successive 
winters,  1827-1829,  to  Virginia,  are  scarcely  a  tithe 
of  the  places  where  revivals  spread,  and  where  the 
Spirit  wrought  mightily  in  the  conversion  of  sinners. 
Hundreds  and  thousands  of  churches,  connected  with 
the  various  evangelical  denominations  in  all  parts  of 
the  country,  were  visited  and  blessed  by  the  gracious 
outpourings  of  the  Spirit,  notices  of  which  constantly 
appeared  in  the  weekly  and  other  periodicals  for  a 
score  of  years,  but  which  the  design  and  limits  of  this 
work  do  not  require  or  permit  me  to  notice  more  in 
detail. 

In  Central  and  Western  New  York,  the  revival 
was  very  extensive  and  powerful.  In  Troy,  Utica, 
Auburn,  Syracuse,  Rochester,  Buffalo,  and  many  other 
places,  the  revivals  between  1820  and  1825  surpassed 
all  that  had  been  seen  before.  They  were  noticed  in 
the  religious  newspapers  of  the  day,  and  through 
some  other  channels  of  religious  intelligence,  but  I 
.have  not  been  able  to  find  narratives  of  them  in  more 
permanent  forms. 

SOME  THINGS  TO  BE  KEGRETTED. 

But  glorious  as  these  revivals  were,  I  believe 
that  in  the  retrospect  nearly  all  the  ministers  who 
were  then  on  the  stage  can  recollect  some  things  to 
be  regretted,  which  were  at  length  in  some  places 
introduced,  as  there  were  in  the  "great  awakening" 
of  the  last  century,  and  which,  considering  the  imper- 
fection of  the  best  of  men,  are  liable  more  or  less  to 
mar  every  great  revival.  I  cannot  do  less  than  glance 
at  them  in  these  brief  historical  sketches. 


264  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

None  but  the  decided  enemies  of  vital  religion 
could  then  say,  or  can  now  say,  that  those  mistakes 
were  so  many  and  so  wide  spread  anywhere  as  to 
destroy  the  good  there  was  in  them  in  that  remarka- 
ble day ;  though  there  were  some  things  to  be  guarded 
against  and  avoided,  which  in  a  greater  or  less  de- 
gree interrupted  the  good  work,  and  gave  some  occa- 
sion to  such  as  sought  occasion  to  oppose  it.  It  could 
not  be  denied  that  in  several  places  the  pressure  was 
for  a  time  so  high,  under  certain  revival  measures,  as 
to  disturb  the  calm  and  regular  action  of  men's  minds. 
Outbreaks  of  nervous  excitement  were  so  far  from 
being  checked,  that  they  were  rather  encouraged  in 
the  prayer-meetings,  if  not  in  the  more  public  assem- 
blies. 

It  having  been  found  that  four-days'  meetings 
were  remarkably  blessed,  they  were  in  many  cases 
multiplied  and  repeated  till  they  were  fairly  worn 
out.  It  came  to  be  thought,  in  some  churches,  that 
when  religion  was  at  a  low  ebb,  they  had  only  to. 
arrange  for  a  protracted  meeting,  and  were  almost 
sure  of  a  revival.  Accordingly  when  four  days  did 
not  do  it,  the  meetings  were  continued  indefinitely — 
six,  ten,  fifteen,  twenty,  and  in  some  cases  much 
longer — till  all  who  attended  them  were  exhausted 
in  body  and  mind ;  and  whatever  forced  excitement 
was  at  last  produced,  was  unavoidably  followed  by 
a  speedy  reaction,  which  left  the  church  and  congre- 
gation in  a  far  less  impressible  state  than  the  meet- 
ing found  them.  I  presume  that  few  if  any  of  those 
churches  would  now  repeat  the  experiment  of  very 
long  protracted  meetings.      In  consequence  of  such 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  265 

failures  as  were  witnessed,  unreasonable  prejudices 
have  ever  since  existed  in  some  quarters  against  all 
such  meetings. 

The  great  demand  for  preaching  in  western  re- 
vivals, brought  out  a  number  of  zealous  young  men 
with  but  little  experience,  who  felt  it  their  duty  to 
enter  into  the  work,  and  help  the  pastors  wherever 
their  services  were  desired.  They  soon  took  the 
name  of  Evangelists,  or  Revivalists  as  they  were  more 
commonly  called.  Some  of  them,  in  process  of  time, 
became  zealous  overmuch.  They  introduced  meas- 
ures which  many  pastors  of  riper  judgment  and  more 
experience  in  revivals  could  not  approve.  And  as 
their  zeal  increased,  they  wanted  to  go  to  places 
where  they  were  not  sent  for.  Nor  would  they  be 
hindered  for  want  of  regular  invitations.  Influential 
members  of  the  churches  who  sympathized  with  them 
were  approached,  and  enlisted  to  overrule  the  judg- 
ment of  their  ministers,  and  wring  from  them  a  reluc- 
tant consent.  If  the  ministers  would  not  yield,  they 
must  be  broken  down,  as  the  phrase  was.  This  was 
often  attempted,  and  sometimes  succeeded.  Nor  would 
the  Evangelist  long  consent  to  labor  under  the  advice 
and  direction  of  the  pastor.  He  must  give  up  the 
reins,  and  stand  aside  and  look  on,  or  take  a  subordi- 
nate part  in  the  revival.  The  consequence  was,  that 
divisions  were  created  in  the  churches,  part  holding 
with  the  pastors  and  part  with  the  Evangelists ;  and 
though  scores  of  converts  might  be  announced,  some 
churches  were  actually  weakened,  and  to  such  a  de- 
gree that  if  not  quite  broken  up,  in  what  has  since 
been  called  the  'burnt  district,'  they  have  scarcely 

Rev.   SVotcbes  12 


266  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

recovered  to  this  day.  Not  only  were  good  ministers 
driven  from  tlieir  congregations  in  this  manner,  but 
such  prejudices  against  revivals  were  created  by 
these  extreme  measures,  that  it  has  taken  a  whole 
generation  to  remove  them. 

Some  of  these  Revivalists  found  their  way  into 
the  border  congregations  of  New  England.  And 
though  they  did  not  find  so  free  an  entrance  as  they 
desired,  they  visited  and  labored  in  towns  enough  to 
test  their  extreme  measures  by  the  fruits ;  and  while 
in  looking  back  we  do  not  feel  warranted  to  say  they 
did  no  good,  it  is  certain  they  caused  many  unhappy 
divisions,  and  that  their  success  was  nothing  like 
what  they  proclaimed  upon  the  housetops.  Places 
might  be  named  where  they  counted  scores  if  not 
hundreds  of  converts,  but  few  of  whom  could  be 
found,  ten  years  after,  to  have  joined  and  adorned  the 
Christian  profession  in  any  of  the  churches.  One 
great  object  was  to  gather  in  the  converts  as  soon 
as  possible,  and  the  consequence  was,  that  not  a 
few  petitions  were  erelong  presented  for  clismissions 
back  again  to  the  world,  by  persons  thus  hastily  ad- 
mitted. They  said,  We  thought  we  were  converted 
when  we  joined,  but  are  now  convinced  it  was  mere 
animal  excitement:  we  have  no  more  religion  than 
we  had  before,  and  have  no  right  to  be  counted  as 
Christians,  and  come  to  the  Lord's  table. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  decide  what  ought  to  be 
done  in  such  cases.  But  it  is  obvious,  upon  a  mo- 
ment's reflection,  that  they  must  be  extremely  embar- 
rassing. Nor  is  it  uncharitable  to  express  the  fear, 
that  many  who  are  thus  hurried  in,  and  who  do  not 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  26t 

ask  to  be  released,  have  the  form  of  godliness  without 
the  power,  and  by  remaining  weaken  the  churches 
instead  of  strengthening  them.  These  were  serious 
drawbacks  upon  the  revivals  of  the  period  now  under 
review.  In  some  cases  they  put  a  stop  to  them. 
Nevertheless,  as  I  have  already  said,  they  were  un- 
questionably glorious  years  of  the  right  hand  of  the 
Most  High. 

REVIVALS  IN  COLLEGES  AND  SEMINARIES. 

It  is  ground  of  devout  thanksgiving  to  God,  that 
within  the  last  fifty  years  our  colleges  have  been  much 
oftener  visited  by  the  special  outpourings  of  the  Spir- 
it, than  during  any  former  period ;  and  that  a  very 
large  proportion  of  the  most  able  and  successful  min- 
isters and  missionaries  have  been  converted  and  nur- 
tured in  these  institutions.  In  Yale,  I  believe  there 
have  been  ten  revivals  at  least.  In  Williams  and 
Amherst  there  have  been  nearly  as  many,  and  others 
have  shared  richly  in  these  blessings.  From  what 
sources  could  faithful  ministers  have  been  obtained, 
if  these  institutions  had  not  been  thus  visited  ? 

Nor  must  we  forget  to  magnify  the  grace  of  God 
in  the  effusions  of  his  Spirit  upon  our  academies,  high- 
schools,  and  other  kindred  educational  seminaries, 
both  male  and  female.  It  would  be  safe  to  say,  that 
within  the  last  forty  years,  there  have  been  hundreds 
of  revivals  in  these  nurseries  of  the  churches  and  of 
the  state,  the  like  of  which  have  never  before  been 
enjoyed  in  this  or  any  other  age  or  country. 

In  many  of  the  Female  seminaries  especially,  they 
have  been  remarkable,  frequent,  and  powerful ;  upon 


268  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

some  of  the  largest  of  them,  the  Spirit  has  been  pour- 
ed out  almost  every  year.  Among  these  the  Mount 
Holyoke  seminary  in  South  Hadley,  Massachusetts, 
was  so  highly  favored  under  the  instruction  and  relig- 
ious training  of  that  remarkable  woman  Maky  Lyon, 
its  founder,  and  her  associates,  that  I  cannot  refrain 
from  copying  the  following  letter  of  one  of  the  teach- 
ers, Miss  Whitman,  written  by  request  to  President 
Hitchcock  in  1846,  which  I  find  in  the  new  edition  of 
Miss  Lyon's  life. 

"  The  school  has  been  in  operation  nine  years,  and 
each  year  since  its  commencement  there  has  been 
decided  religious  interest,  unless  we  except  the  first 
and  the  eighth,  several  times  amounting  to  a  deep 
and  extensive  work  of  grace.  Among  the  pupils  of 
the  first  year,  there  were  but  ten  or  twelve  who  were 
not  hopefully  pious ;  and  although  there  was  a  gen- 
eral consistency  of  character  and  deportment,  and 
great  zeal  in  building  up  the  new  institution,  there 
was  no  marked  religious  interest. 

"The  second  year,  the  number  regarding  them- 
selves as  unconverted  was  about  thirty.  During  that 
year,  God  manifested  his  acceptance  of  the  consecrat- 
ed institution,  not  by  a  visible  cloud,  but  by  a  bap- 
tism of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  work  was  very  rapid, 
and  advanced  with  great  power.  It  occurred  in  con- 
nection with  the  fast  for  literary  institutions.  The 
whole  school  bowed  beneath  its  influence.  The  breath- 
ings of  the  Spirit  were  felt  in  every  heart.  The 
lukewarm  professor  and  the  openly  irreligious  alike 
trembled  for  their  personal  safety.  The  light  foot- 
step, the  huslied  voice,  and  tlie  solemn  countenance 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  269 

indicated  tlie  tliouglits  of  all  hearts.  Many  a  slum- 
bering professor  awoke  to  newness  of  life.  During 
the  three  days  succeeding  the  last  Thursday  of  Feb- 
ruary, which  had  been  sacredly  observed  by  the  teach- 
ers and  scholars  as  a  season  of  fasting  and  prayer, 
about  one-half  of  the  impenitent  indulged  the  hope  of 
having  passed  from  death  unto  life. 

"  Saturday  of  the  same  week  was  a  day  of  recrea- 
tion. In  the  afternoon,  nearly  the  whole  school  with 
one  accord  came  together,  filling  to  its  utmost  capac- 
ity the  reading-room,  where  the  meeting  was  held. 
After  continuous  prayer  for  an  hour,  the  meeting  was 
appropriately  closed  by  one  of  the  teachers.  No  one 
rose  to  leave  the  room.  The  feeling  pervaded  the 
circle  that  prayer  must  be  continued  until  every  soul 
was  converted.  Another  prayer  was  then  offered, 
after  which  the  same  teacher  proposed  that  they 
should  all  retire  to  their  rooms  for  half  an  hour,  and 
then  those  who  desired,  should  meet  again  in  the 
same  place.  At  the  end  of  the  half  hour  the  burden- 
ed souls  came  together  to  plead  once  more  for  their 
companions  who  were  still  out  of  Christ.  But  one, 
that  year,  remained  destitute  of  the  Christian  hope. 
Many  were  the  prayers  offered  for  that  halting  one, 
and  in  after-years  it  was  found  that  praying  breath 
had  not  been  spent  in  vain.  She  has  since  died  in  a 
peaceful  hope  of  divine  acceptance,  referring  its  ori- 
gin to  that  second  year  of  the  Holyoke  seminary. 

"Thus  did  this  young  seminary  receive  its  bap- 
tism of  the  Spirit.  Thus  did  God  condescend  to  man- 
ifest his  acceptance  of  the  offering.  Thus  did  he 
receive  as  his  own  the  seminary  which  had  been  pri- 


270  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

vately  and  publicly  consecrated  to  him  by  the  donors, 
the  trustees,  and  most  of  all  by  her  who,  standing  at 
its  head,  was  often  heard  earnestly  pleading,  that  not 
one  of  all  who  should  enjoy  its  privileges  down  to  the 
dawn  of  the  millennial  day,  should  fail  of  eternal  life. 
"This  revival  gave  the  school  that  religious  char- 
acter which  its  founders  desired.  Its  effects  were 
felt  for  several  successive  years,  but  especially  in  the 
next,  which  was  the  third  in  the  history  of  the  semi- 
nary. That  year,  all  indulged  the  Christian  hope.  The 
work  was  gradual,  and  there  was  a  continued  inter- 
est from  the  first  week  of  the  school  till  the  close  of 
the  year.  The  presence  of  the  Spirit  was  manifested 
from  the  first,  by  attention  to  instruction,  the  tearful 
eye,  and  exhibition  of  tenderness  of  feeling  whenever 
the  subject  of  personal  religion  was  introduced.  The 
number  of  cases  of  hopeful  conversion  this  year  was 
nearly  the  same  as  the  preceding,  or  about  thirty. 
The  fourth  year,  the  religious  interest  still  contin- 
ued, somewhat  diminished  in  its  power,  yet  manifest 
through  the  year.  Christians  were  not  so  generally 
and  deeply  afi'ected  as  at  some  former  times,  yet  there 
was  an  interesting  growth  and  maturing  of  Christian 
character ;  six  or  eight  only  remained  at  the  close  of 
the  year  without  hope.  The  fifth  year,  our  building 
was  enlarged,  and  our  numbers  greatly  increased. 
There  were  in  many  cases  a  decided  and  interesting 
development  and  settling  of  religious  principle,  and 
also  several  cases  of  hopeful  conversion  of  an  unusu- 
ally marked  character.  The  number  expressing  hope 
was  perhaps  about  seventeen,  being  nearly  half  who 
entered  without  hope. 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  271 

"The  following  year,  the  sixth,  was  one  rich  in 
blessing.  A  more  careful  division  of  responsibility 
and  labor  among  the  teachers  was  made,  and  from 
the  commencement  of  the  year,  there  was  an  increas- 
ed personal  effort  in  relation  to  every  member  of  the 
family.  God  crowned  these  efforts  with  abundant 
success.  From  the  first  there  was  an  attentive  listen- 
ing to  instruction,  and  truth  seemed  to  be  taking  a 
deep  hold  of  the  understanding  and  conscience.  But 
it  was  not  till  March,  that  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
came  upon  us  with  great  power,  and  at  once  a  large 
number  stood  up  on  the  Lord's  side,  having  received 
the  breath  of  life.  The  work  was  sudden,  rapid,  and 
powerful.  We  could  only  stand  still  and  see  the 
salvation  of  God.  Some  cases  of  conversion  were  of 
a  very  marked  character,  and  of  great  interest.  Of 
the  sixty-six  who  entered  the  school  without  hope, 
only  six  remained  destitute  of  it.  The  missionary 
interest  this  year  received  a  new  impulse  by  the  de- 
parture of  Miss  Fisk,  one  of  our  teachers,  on  a  foreign 
mission,  and  there  was  an  increase  in  the  missionary 
contributions.  During  the  seventh  year,  there  were 
about  thirty  cases  of  hopeful  conversion.  In  our  last 
term,  there  were  about  twenty,  and  a  number  have 
occurred  the  present  term." 

During  the  twelve  years  which  have  since  trans- 
pired, that  consecrated  school  of  some  three  hundred 
pupils  has  been  almost  equally  blessed  by  annual 
revivals.  The  spirit  of  the  founder  has  rested  on  her 
successors  whom  she  trained  up  for  the  service. 


272  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

REVIVALS  ON  MISSIONARY  GROUND. 

While  God  was  pouring  out  his  Spirit  so  copiously 
upon  the  church  in  this  country,  as  we  have  seen, 
he  was  strengthening  the  hands  and  encouraging  the 
hearts  of  her  missionaries  in  foreign  lands,  by  pre- 
cious refreshings  from  the  same  inexhaustible  foun- 
tain. 

To  begin  with  the  Sandwich  islands.  When  the 
first  missionaries  of  the  American  Board  landed  there, 
in  1820,  they  found  the  natives  sunk  in  the  most  de- 
plorable ignorance  and  barbarism.  A  more  hopeless 
missionary  field  could  scarcely  be  found  in  the  whole 
heathen  world;  but  God  had  gone  before  them,  and 
moved  those  wretched  islanders  to  cast  away  their 
idols,  they  knew  not  why,  as  the  first  step  towards 
receiving  the  gospel.  Much  earlier  than  the  strong- 
est faith  had  dared  to  anticipate,  God  poured  out  his 
Spirit  in  a  most  wonderful  manner.  The  missionaries 
stood  still  in  amazement,  as  they  witnessed  the  power 
and  progress  of  the  work.  They  had  seen  great 
revivals  in  their  own  country,  but  they  "never  saw 
it  on  this  fashion."  Almost  the  whole  population  was 
simultaneously  moved  by  an  invisible  mighty  impulse, 
which  they  could  not  withstand.  Such  a  revival,  it 
is  believed,  had  not  been  witnessed  for  seventeen  hun- 
dred years.  "  So  mightily  grew  the  word  of  God  and 
prevailed."  I  have  no  room  for  statistics,  if  I  had 
them  all  before  me.  They  will  be  found  in  the  re- 
ports and  correspondence  of  the  missionaries  with  the 
American  Board  at  that  period.  Suffice  it  to  say, 
that  the  converts  were  numbered  by  thousands,  so 
that  within  a  very  few  years  a  larger  proportion  of 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  273 

the  natives,  hopefully  born  again,  were  received  into 
the  churches,  than  could  be  numbered  in  any  Chris- 
tian land.  The  church  in  Hilo  was  for  a  great  many 
years,  and  is  now  the  largest  evangelical  church  in  the 
world.  Several  powerful  revivals  have  been  enjoyed 
in  those  islands  since  the  first  and  the  greatest.  Christ 
has  taken  possession  of  them  as  a  part  of  his  inherit- 
ance ;  and  how  any,  who  claim  to  be  Christians  even 
in  the  most  "  liberal "  sense,  can  with  this  history  be- 
fore them  doubt  that  he  is  able  to  subdue  all  things 
to  himself,  surpasses  my  comprehension. 

From  the  Sandwich  islands  let  us  pass  over  the 
great  seas  to  Burmah,  where  the  sainted  Judson  en- 
dured all  the  lingering  sufferings  of  martyrdom,  up 
to  the  very  point  of  the  spear,  from  which  he  was 
scarcely  saved  by  the  almost  superhuman  efforts  of 
his  heroic  wife.  Next  to  that  at  the  islands,  the  mis- 
sion among  the  Karens,  under  the  Baptist  Foreign 
Board,  has,  I  believe,  been  the  most  prosperous  of  any 
in  modern  times.  I  do  not  pretend  to  give  dates  in 
these  sketches,  nor  the  number  of  converts  from  hea- 
thenism at  any  of  the  stations.  It  is  unnecessary  to  my 
purpose,  which  is  to  show  that  God  has  been,  and  is 
carrying  on  his  work  of  saving  sinners  chiefly  by 
revivals  where  missions  are  planted  on  pagan  ground, 
as  we  have  seen  he  does  in  Christian  lands.  Suffice 
it  to  say,  that  there  have  been  several  marked  revi- 
vals among  the  Karens — perhaps  it  would  come  nearer 
the  actual  state  of  things  to  say  there  has  for  several 
years  been  a  connected  series  of  them  there — in  which 
thousands  have  been  brought  out  of  darkness  into 

God's  marvellous  light.     "  Two  thousand  and  thirty- 

12* 


214  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

nine,"  say  the  Missionary  Union,  "  were  brought  into 
connection  with  the  Aracan  churches  by  baptism,  in 
1844.  The  average  annual  accessions  in  the  last  five 
years  exceed  fourteen  hundred.  The  number  bap- 
tized from  the  beginning,  is  sixteen  thousand.  The 
number  of  hopeful  converts  through  the  preaching  of 
the  cross  of  Christ  by  missionaries  and  native  preach- 
ers of  this  Board,  is  more  than  twenty  thousand." 
This  I  copy  from  the  Retrospect  of  1851,  and  large 
additions  have  since  been  made  to  the  churches. 
What  hath  God  wrought  in  pagan  Burmah ! 

Although  no  such  very  extraordinary  success  has 
been  reported  from  other  Protestant  missions,  there 
has  been  enough  to  show  that  "  God  is  not  slack 
concerning  his  promise."  There  have  been  repeated 
revivals  in  the  missionary  schools  at  Ceylon  and 
other  parts  of  India,  of  the  same  type  as  in  our  schools 
and  academies  at  home.  Also  in  the  schools  of  our 
missionaries  among  the  Nestorians.  There  are  revi- 
vals still  in  progress,  of  greater  or  less  extent  and 
power,  as  there  have  been  for  some  time  past  under 
the  labors  of  the  American  missionaries  among  the 
Armenians  of  Asia  Minor.  So  also  among  the  Zulus 
in  South  Africa,  as  there  had  been  long  ago  among 
the  Hottentots.  In  Western  Africa  too,  the  Meth- 
odist, Baptist,  Episcopal,  Presbyterian,  and  Congre- 
gational missionaries  have  been  cheered  by  special 
refreshings  poured  upon  their  respective  fields  of 
labor,  from  the  river  of  God  which  is  full  of  water. 
So  it  has  been  with  the  Choctaws,  Cherokees,  and 
other  pagan  tribes  of  our  North  American  Indians. 
Wherever  they  have  been  christianized,  and  churches 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  275 

established  among  them,  it  has  been  by  the  mighty 
power  of  God's  Spirit  in  revivals.  I  cannot  call  to 
mind  an  exception.  So  it  was  in  the  days  of  "  the 
apostle  to  the  Indians  "  John  Eliot,  the  Mayhews, 
and  other  first  missionaries  to  the  tribes  on  Martha's 
Vineyard  and  the  New  England  shore.  The  Holy 
Spirit  was  poured  out,  churches  were  established,  and 
there  were  at  one  time  fifteen  or  twenty  congrega- 
tions of  praying  Indians,  as  the  natives  were  then 
called,  who  renounced  heathenism  and  attended  pub- 
lic worship. 

In  like  manner,  about  the  middle  of  the  last  cen- 
tury there  were  revivals  under  the  labors  of  that 
devoted  missionary  David  Brainerd,  whose  name  will 
be  had  in  everlasting  remembrance  for  his  labors 
among  the  Indians,  in  the  depths  of  their  forests  and 
their  barbarism  at  Crossweeksung  and  the  forks  of 
the  Delaware. 

I  might  add  others  to  this  list  of  examples  on 
heathen  ground,  but  I  have  named  more  than  enough 
to  show  that  the  divine  economy  for  spreading  the 
gospel  in  heathen  lands  has  been  by  revivals.  I  noth- 
ing doubt  that  if  they  could  all  be  chronicled  in  their 
full  extent  since  the  world  began,  they  would  fill 
some  of  the  longest  and  brightest  chapters  in  the 
History  of  Redemption,  down  to  the  present  hour. 

THE  REVIVAL  OP    1858. 

To  return  again  to  our  own  land.  I  have  brought 
these  sketches  down  to  about  1845,  when  there  were 
but  few  powerful  revivals,  and  for  some  years  these 
sacred  visits  seemed  to  be  becoming  less  and  less  fre- 


2*16  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

quent.  Many  churclies  here  and  there  were  refresh- 
ed, and  many  souls  brought  in;  but  to  an  alarming 
extent  the  young  were  growing  up  without  hope  and 
without  God  in  the  world.  There  was  increasing 
coldness  and  worldly  conformity  in  the  churches. 
From  some  of  the  watch-towers  of  Zion  the  alarm 
indeed  was  sounded.  There  was  weeping  in  secret 
places  over  the  general  decline,  and  many  prayers 
were  offered  for  the  return  of  the  Spirit.  But  to  the 
question,  "Watchman,  what  of  the  night?"  there  was 
no  cheering  answer.  It  was  very  dark,  and  seemed 
to  be  growing  darker.  As  in  the  days  of  the  prophet 
Israel  was  mad  upon  her  idols,  so  we  had  our  idols 
of  gold  and  silver.  A  money  mania  pervaded  not 
only  all  our  commercial  cities,  but  the  whole  country 
more  or  less,  involving  all  classes.  The  old  paths  to 
competence  by  the  moderate  gains  of  industry  and 
frugality  were  being  more  and  more  forsaken,  as  no 
longer  suited  to  this  progressive  age.  Speculation 
in  stocks,  in  city  and  village  lots,  in  wild  lands,  in 
paper  villages  and  flourishing  marts  of  business,  and 
in  every  thing  that  promised  sudden  and  extravagant 
gains,  had  reached  the  crisis  of  fever-heat,  and  filled 
the  dreams  of  thousands  upon  thousands  with  un- 
counted treasures,  with  fairy  mansions,  and  all  the 
delights  of  "  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eye, 
and  the  pride  of  life."  Would  that  it  had  been  but 
an  Arabian  night  dream,  instead  of  the  actual  every 
day  state  of  the  scrambling  multitudes. 

And  then  such  a  highly  inflated  and  insane  grasp- 
ing for  riches  could  not  fail  of  creating  temptations, 
to  an  alarming  extent  too  strong  to  be  resisted,  in  the 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  2^ 

large  business  transactions  of  the  country.  Hence 
those  enormous  frauds  which  have  made  the  ears  of 
the  nation  tingle,  and  by  which  multitudes  of  widows 
and  orphans  have  been  swindled  out  of  the  small 
hard-earned  investments,  on  which  they  depended  for 
their  daily  bread.  It  was  painfully  manifest  that 
without  some  check  to  this  all-absorbing  worldliness, 
there  was  no  reasonable  prospect  of  such  a  return  of 
the  years  of  the  right  hand  of  the  Most  High  as  we 
had  once  enjoyed,  under  the  opening  heavens  pouring 
down  the  Holy  Spirit  and  reviving  his  work.  The 
church  was  fast  falling  into  the  current  which  swept 
madly  on,  and  threatened,  if  possible,  to  swallow  up 
the  very  elect.  To  change  the  figure,  we  were  de- 
scending an  inclined  plane  with  all  the  steam  on,  and 
no  brakes  to  check  the  engine  and  save  the  train 
from  being  dashed  to  pieces. 

Just  then,  in  the  summer  of  1857,  God  interposed 
in  a  way  which  but  few  if  any  would  have  chosen  or 
thought  of.  When  men  were  saying,  "  Soul,  thou  hast 
much  goods  laid  up  for  many  years ;  take  thine  ease, 
eat,  drink,  and  be  merry ;"  when  they  were  building 
their  castles  in  the  air,  not  easy  to  be  numbered  ;  when 
the  common  talk  on  change  was  of  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands and  millions;  when,  in  short,  all  were  saying, 
"  To-morrow  shall  be  as  this  day,  and  more  abundant," 
then  suddenly  came  the  crash,  as  if  thunders  from  a 
clear  sky  had  simultaneously  broken  over  the  whole 
land.  Like  a  yawning  earthquake,  it  shook  down 
the  palaces  of  the  rich,  no  less  than  the  humble  dwell- 
ings of  the  poor,  and  swallowed  up  their  substance. 
Men  went  to  bed  dreaming  all  night  of  their  vast 


218  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

hoarded  treasures,  and  woke  up  in  the  morning  hope- 
less bankrupts. 

Happily  these  overwhelming  losses  brought  many 
prosperous  business  men  to  a  stand,  who  had  given 
themselves  no  time  to  think  about  laying  up  treas- 
ures in  heaven;  and  under  the  wise  and  merciful 
orderings  of  Providence,  this  prepared  the  way  for 
a  new  revival  epoch,  differing  in  its  commencement 
and  some  of  its  aspects  from  any  that  had  preced- 
ed it. 

It  is  quite  too  early  to  speak  with  confidence  of 
the  extent  and  fruits  of  this  most  remarkable  revival. 
Its  rise  and  progress  have  been  so  fully  registered  in 
the  religious  and  secular  journals  of  the  day,  that 
repetitions  are  not  called  for,  if  we  had  room  for 
them.  But  as  I  have  sketched  the  leading  character- 
istics of  former  revivals  which  have  come  under  re- 
view, it  is  in  place  to  inquire  in  what  respects,  if 
any,  this  work  differs  from  them.  That  there  are 
some  striking  differences  must  be  patent  to  all  who 
are  conversant  with  this  branch  of  the  history  of  Re- 
demption. 

1.  In  its  commencement.  How  and  where  did  it 
begin  ?  The  kingdom  of  God  came  not  with  obser- 
vation. Such  a  visit  at  such  a  time  was  not  looked 
for.  On  the  contrary,  many  feared  that  the  financial 
disasters  of  the  country  had  so  absorbed  the  minds 
of  the  whole  people  both  in  and  out  of  the  churches, 
as  to  leave  no  room  for  the  concerns  of  the  soul.  But 
it  would  seem  that  the  mighty  crash  was  just  what 
was  wanted  in  the  great  marts  of  business  and  specu- 
lation, to  startle  men  from  their  golden  dreams,  and 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  2t9 

lead  tbem  to  seek  for  durable  riches  and  righteousness. 
The  horseleech  epidemic  had  spread  so  wide,  and 
reached  such  a  crisis,  that  no  ordinary  means  could 
arrest  it.  There  is  no  reason  to  believe,  I  think, 
that  this  revival  would  have  commenced  as  it  did, 
and  spread  as  it  has,  if  the  spell  which  held  men  in 
its  embrace  had  not  been  broken  by  some  sudden  and 
violent  convulsion.  It  came :  and  the  rushing  throngs 
of  fortune-seekers  stood  still  in  amazement.  Wall- 
street  was  shattered  and  tottering  from  one  end  to 
the  other.  Every  shock  threatened  wider  ruin,  and 
where  could  the  merchant  princes  and  bankers  find  a 
place  of  refuge  ?  Their  millions  were  gone  or  going, 
and  they  had  laid  up  no  better  portion.  A  thicken- 
ing gloom  hung  over  all  the  cities,  and  spread  over 
all  the  country.  "While  the  earth  reeled,  the  heavens 
were  shut  up. 

It  was  just  then  that  God  put  it  into  the  heart  of 
a  humble  individual  to  propose  a  daily  prayer-meet- 
ing in  the  lower  part  of  the  city  of  New  York,  at 
such  a  time  as  would  best  suit  the  convenience  of 
business  men.  At  first  but  few  attended,  in  a  little 
room  on  the  third  floor  of  the  consistory  of  the  Re- 
formed Dutch  church  in  Fulton-street.  But  "behold 
how  great  a  matter  a  little  fire  kindleth  f  soon,  to 
the  astonishment  of  everybody,  thronging  multitudes 
filled  all  the  three  rooms  of  that  building  to  their 
utmost  capacity.  It  was  a  vast  daily  prayer-meeting 
of  an  hour  at  twelve  o'clock,  attended  by  those  of  all 
classes  and  conditions,  and  included  great  numbers 
of  business  men  who  had  never  been  seen  in  a  prayer- 
meeting  before.     It  was  the  Lord's  doing,  and  mar- 


280  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

vellous  in  all  eyes.  Nor  could  it  long  be  confined 
within  sucli  narrow  limits. 

The  fire  from  heaven  that  kindled  the  flame  there, 
spread  rapidly  in  all  directions.  The  call  to  prayer 
became  louder  throughout  the  city  than  it  ever  was 
before.  It  daily  filled  some  of  the  largest  churches  ; 
it  gathered  thousands  into  one  of  the  vast  theatres ; 
it  reached  the  free  academy ;  the  fire  and  the  police 
departments  opened  their  doors  for  daily  prayer. 
Rooms  were  opened  by  merchants  in  their  stores,  in 
which  their  clerks  met  for  prayer,  and  the  waiters  in 
one  of  the  large  hotels  had  their  daily  prayer-meet- 
ing. Even  Jews  participated  in  the  great  revival 
movement,  and  attended  the  meetings  in  various  parts 
of  the  city.  Such  in  brief  was  the  commencement  of 
this  marvellous  work  of  the  Spirit.  The  oldest  Chris- 
tians stood  still  and  exclaimed,  ''We  never  saw  it  on 
this  fashion;"  and  may  I  not  ask,  who  ever  did?  Of 
such  a  simultaneous  movement  we  have  no  recorded 
example. 

2.  They  were  union  prayer-meetings,  attended  by 
all  who  chose,  without  respect  to  denominational  dif- 
ferences. This  was  a  new  feature  in  the  revival. 
The  middle  walls  of  partition  had  never  before  been 
so  thoroughly  broken  down.  Evangelical  Christians 
of  every  name  found  they  could  come  together  and 
pray  for  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  without  any 
sacrifice  of  church  order,  and  were  astonished  that 
they  had  not  sooner  found  out  "  how  good,  and  how 
pleasant  it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell  together  in  unity  " 
at  the  throne  of  grace.  Oh,  how  it  liberalized  the  sec- 
tarian spirit ;  how  it  enlarged  the  heart ;  how  it  tended 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  281 

to  unite  the  wliole  liouseliold  of  faith  in  one  common 
brotherhood.  Let  it  be  our  united  prayer  that  Satan 
may  never  more  get  an  advantage  of  us,  by  rebuild- 
ing the  walls  which  have  so  long  kept  us  apart  to 
our  mutual  discredit  and  loss.  Have  we  not  all  one 
Lord,  one  faith,  one  God  and  Father,  who  is  above 
all,  through  all,  and  in  us  all?  and  shall  we  ever 
hesitate  to  unite  in  praying  for  the  descent  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  whenever  and  wherever  we  can  enjoy 
the  privilege  ? 

3.  Another  remarkable  feature  in  this  revival,  is 
the  rapidity  with  which  the  spirit  of  united  prayer 
spread  from  city  to  city,  and  from  state  to  state, 
gathering  the  vast  multitudes  who  in  a  few  weeks 
were  everywhere  seen  crowding  the  meetings,  giving 
unmistakable  evidence  that  God  was  in  the  midst  of 
them.  His  presence  and  power  were  manifest  as 
never  before,  in  making  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
Cincinnati,  and  almost  all  our  large  cities  centres  of 
this  great  movement,  radiating  the  spiritual  light  and 
warmth  which  they  were  the  first  to  enjoy,  upon  all 
the  regions  round  about.  Thus  the  united  prayer- 
meetings  and  the  revivals  spread  with  wonderful  ra- 
pidity to  hundreds  of  places,  from  the  centre  to  the 
circumference.  It  has  been  variously  estimated  that 
there  were  within  one  year,  between  three  and  five 
hundred  thousand  converts. 

4.  The  earth  came  in  and  helped  the  woman  as  never 
before,  since  she  fled  from  the  great  red  dragon  into 
the  wilderness.  Thirty  years  ago,  it  was  difficult  to 
get  even  a  short  paragraph  of  religious  intelligence 
into  a  secular  city  paper.     Such  a  thing  as  a  notice 


282  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

of  a  revival,  we  may  almost  say,  was  never  heard  of 
through  such  a  channel.  The  best  that  could  be 
done  was  chiefly  accomplished  with  singular  tact  and 
perseverence  by  a  minister,  well  and  widely  known  at 
that  time,  as  bent  on  doing  good  in  every  possible 
way.*  At  first  it  was  a  volunteer  and  gratuitous 
service,  collecting  and  writing  out  short  articles, 
banding  them  to  the  editors,  and  getting  them  insert- 
ed more  as  special  favors  to  the  man,  than  to  their 
readers  and  patrons.  Finding  how  much  good  he 
was  doing  in  this  way,  a  number  of  religious  men 
contributed  moderate  sums  to  sustain  him ;  and  this 
was  all  that  could  be  done  to  reach  the  masses  of 
newspaper  readers.  I  believe  I  might  say  it  took  a 
whole  year  to  get  the  amount  of  two  columns  into 
any  secular  city  paper,  when  revivals  in  almost  every 
part  of  the  country  were  going  on  with  mighty  power. 
But  how  astonishing  the  change!  Scarcely  had 
the  union  prayer-meetings  been  set  up  in  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  Boston,  and  other  cities,  when  the  same 
papers,  of  their  own  accord,  devoted  whole  closely 
crowded  columns,  weekly  and  daily,  to  this  new  relig- 
ious phenomenon ;  vying  with  each  other  who  should 
most  minutely  chronicle  the  progress  of  these  meet- 
ings, and  spread  the  news  widest.  In  fact,  for  some 
time  they  took  the  lead  of  the  religious  papers  in  this 
department  of  general  intelligence.  The  change  was 
so  sudden  and  so  surprising,  that  we  could  hardly 
believe  our  own  eyes  in  reading  the  dailies.  This 
was  a  great  advance  upon  what  had  ever  before  been 
witnessed. 

*  The  late  Rev.  Austin  Dickinson. 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  283 

5.  I  believe  there  have  been  more  public  prayers 
offered  up  by  request  for  individuals,  and  more  re- 
markable answers,  than  in  any  former  revival.  This 
is  a  step  in  advance,  and  a  great  encouragement  for 
the  future. 

At  the  same  time  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  proc- 
lamations of  sudden  and  surprising  conversions  have 
been  too  many,  and  too  confident  in  some  of  the  great 
daily  prayer-meetings.  Some  of  the  individuals  who 
are  spoken  of  without  qualification  as  brands  from 
the  burning,  will  not  hold  out.  It  cannot  be  known 
at  the  time  who  they  are,  but  some  will  fall  away 
and  bring  distrust  upon  the  conversion  of  others,  and 
upon  the  genuineness  of  the  great  work.  Indeed,  if 
I  have  read  the  reports  right,  there  is  a  much  greater 
degree  of  confidence  expressed,  as  soon  as  awakened 
sinners  get  a  hope,  that  they  are  truly  converted,  than 
there  was  in  the  earlier  revivals  of  this  century. 

The  fathers  used  to  speak  and  write  with  caution. 
They  did  not  say  without  qualification,  "We  have 
twenty,  fifty,  or  a  hundred  converts ;"  but  that  "  so 
many  have  obtained  a  hope ;  that  most  of  them  have 
been  received  into  the  church,  and  that  so  far  they 
appear  well."  They  thought  this  the  safest  way. 
They  were  accustomed  to  say,  after  the  example  of 
Peter  in  his  recommendation  of  Sylvanus,  "  a  faithful 
brother,  as  I  suppose J^  And  I  confess  that  if  the  sup- 
pose were  retained  in  a  great  many  cases  where  it  is 
left  out,  and  if  there  were  not  so  many  hasty  admis- 
sions, I  think  the  revivals  would  bring  in  a  larger 
number  of  true  converts,  and  with  them  more  strength 
to  the  churches.     Still,  the  work  is  glorious,  and  has 


284  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

brought  a  rich  revenue  of  praise  to  the  Redeemer. 
Perhaps  the  number  of  the  truly  regenerated  has  been 
larger  in  the  last,  than  in  any  former  year.  That 
the  work  may  continue  and  spread,  and  bring  still 
greater  numbers  to  the  cross,  will  be  the  devout  peti- 
tion of  all  who  love  the  cause,  to  God  with  whom  is 
the  residue  of  the  Spirit. 

And  just  here  let  me  say,  there  are  some  dangers 
to  be  guarded  against,  growing  out  of  the  very  re- 
markable rise  and  progress  of  this  general  revival. 
As  it  began  outside  of  the  church,  as  it  were;  as 
there  had  not  been  seasons  of  special  prayer  for  the 
outpouring  of  the  Spirit ;  as  no  such  mighty  works 
as  he  has  wrought  were  expected  by  anybody ;  as 
few  ministers  took  an  active  part  at  first,  and  the 
great  union  prayer-meetings  have  been  chiefly  con- 
ducted by  laymen,  there  is  danger  that  the  churches 
will  hope  for  future  revivals  without  much  prayer ; 
that  they  will  rely  too  much  upon  the  prayer  offered 
up  for  them  at  the  union  meetings;  and  that  they 
will  think  too  lightly  of  ministers  and  their  preach- 
ing, and  thus  displease  the  great  Head  of  the  church 
who  has  appointed  "  the  ministry  of  reconciliation," 
without  whose  labors  his  cause  has  never  been  ad- 
vanced. However  a  revival  may  commence,  and 
seem  to  prosper  for  a  time,  it  needs  the  guidance  and 
teachings  of  a  pious  and  faithful  pastor  to  guard 
against  irregularities ;  to  go  before  the  flock  and  lead 
them  safely  to  the  fold  of  the  good  Shepherd. 

Every  revival  makes  a  great  deal  of  work  for  the 
minister.  This  is  especially  the  case  when,  as  in  this 
revival,  many  are  suddenly  arrested  and  hopefully 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  285 

converted,  who  before  had  never  given  serious  atten- 
tion to  the  subject  of  religion ;  and  of  course,  have 
yet  to  receive  all  needful  instruction  with  regard  to 
its  nature  and  evidences.  The  time  allowed  in  these 
daily  prayer-meetings  leaves  little  room  for  instruc- 
tion into  the  things  of  the  kiugdom ;  and  as  many  of 
the  converts  are  attached  to  no  Christian  denomina- 
tion, they  are  to  be  looked  up  and  taught  and  encour- 
aged, and  led  along  in  the  way  where,  till  now,  they 
have  been  almost  as  much  strangers  as  if  they  had 
been  born  in  a  heathen  land. 

I  have  said  it  is  yet  too  early  to  speak  with  con- 
fidence of  the  fruits  of  this  revival.  We  cannot  yet 
compare  it  with  former  spiritual  harvests.  We  hope 
it  will  continue  a  great  while.  But  it  is  easy  to  see 
that  our  hopes  may  be  disappointed.  The  great  ad- 
versary is  no  indifferent  spectator.  It  is  certain  he 
will  in  some  way  get  the  advantage  of  us,  and  stop  it 
if  he  can.  There  was  never  greater  need  of  watch- 
ing and  praying  against  his  devices.  If  he  can  break 
up  the  union  prayer-meetings,  or  cause  them  to  be 
indiscreetly  conducted ;  if  he  can  induce  the  churches 
of  our  several  denominations  to  depend  more  upon 
the  prayers  offered  up  in  these  meetings,  than  upon 
the  ministry  of  the  word  and  other  divinely  appointed 
means  ;  if  he  can  any  way  "  sow  discord  among  breth- 
ren," and  lead  them  to  scramble  for  the  sheaves  in 
the  harvest,  he  will  certainly  do  it.  If  he  can  induce 
those  who  are  now  so  happily  united  to  separate,  say- 
ing, "I  am  of  Paul,  and  I  of  Apollos/'  so  as  to 
leave  as  few  as  possible  for  "  Christ,"  he  will  avail 
himself  of  the  advantage  to  the  utmost ;  or  if  he  can 


286  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

induce  the  awakened  to  substitute  dreams  and  visions 
and  other  fanatical  delusions  for  true  conviction  and 
conversion,  he  will  make  the  most  of  it  to  corrupt 
and  put  an  end  to  the  good  work.  Our  only  protec- 
tion is  in  the  guardianship  of  Him  who  is  infinitely 
powerful  to  protect  his  church,  and  for  his  protection 
let  us  now  and  ever  devoutly  pray. 

ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND. 

In  dwelling  so  fully  on  the  glorious  work  of  God 
in  our  own  land,  in  the  revival  epoch  which  began 
with  the  going  out  of  the  last  and  the  coming  in  of 
the  present  century,  God  forbid  that  I  should  over- 
look or  undervalue  the  simultaneous  work  He  so  won- 
derfully wrought  in  the  mother  country.  The  terror 
justly  awakened  by  the  rapid  spread  of  French  infidel- 
ity not  only  across  the  channel,  but  across  the  Atlan- 
tic, stealthily  entering  the  minds  of  millions,  and  sap- 
ping the  very  foundations  of  piety  and  hope  in  God, 
was  felt  as  deeply  by  Hannah  More,  and  Bishop  Por- 
teus,  and  John  Newton,  and  Dr.  Bogue,  and  George 
Burder,  and  Andrew  Fuller,  and  Rowland  Hill,  and 
others  of  kindred  spirit,  as  by  any  in  our  land.  To 
roll  back  this  flood,  Hannah  More  for  years  devoted 
her  gifted  pen  in  issuing  millions  of  her  cheap  Reposi- 
tory Tracts,  so  fascinating  that  they  could  not  but  be 
read,  and  yet  effectually  tearing  off  the  mask  by 
which  infidelity  presented  herself  as  an  angel  of 
light.  This  led  directly  to  the  formation  of  those 
noble  parent  institutions  in  London,  the  Religious 
Tract  Society,  and  through  that,  the  British  and  For- 
eign Bible  Society.     The  organization  and  efficiency 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  28t 

of  these  institutions,  of  the  Baptist  Foreign  Missionary 
Society,  the  London  Missionary  Society,  the  Church 
Missionary  Society,  and  the  kindred  evangelical  move- 
ments in  the  mother  country  for  spreading  the  gospel, 
which  have  been  so  successfully  imitated  and  cooper- 
ated with  on  this  side  of  the  waters — all  are  fruits  of 
this  blessed  work  of  the  Spirit  graciously  poured  out 
about  1792,  in  a  period  of  darkness  when  the  hearts 
of  Christians  were  failing  them  for  fear ;  and  through 
the  same  hallowed  influence,  their  efficient  labors  have 
been  continued  and  blessed  till  the  present  hour. 

And  not  only  did  these  servants  of  God  devise 
and  carry  into  effect  these  great  evangelizing  organi- 
zations, but  many  of  them  labored  personally  in  the 
spirit  and  power  of  Whitefield  and  the  Wesleys,  full 
of  faith  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  preach  the  gospel 
to  perishing  thousands  in  the  moral  wastes  around 
them,  under  whose  labors  precious  harvests  of  souls 
were  gathered. 

Among  the  foremost  of  these  were  those  two  re- 
markable men,  the  brothers  Robert  and  James  Alex- 
ander Haldane  of  Scotland,  who  will  be  had  in  ever- 
lasting remembrance  for  their  burning  zeal  and  untir- 
ing labors  in  the  service  of  Christ,  and  for  the  cheer- 
fulness with  which  they  consecrated  their  wealth  and 
talents  to  Christ  in  building  churches — tabernacles 
they  were  called — for  the  poor,  and  providing  in 
every  practicable  way  for  their  religious  instruction. 

As  an  example  of  it,  Robert  sold  his  princely  estate 
for  seventy  thousand  guineas,  and  bought  into  the  funds 
for  the  purpose  of  being  ready  to  appropriate  his 
money  for  promoting  the  interests  of  religion.     Out 


288  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

of  the  income  of  six  thousand  pounds  a  year,  he  limit- 
ed his  family  to  five  hundred  pounds — two  thousand 
dollars  for  himself,  and  twenty-eight  thousand  annually 
for  Christ  and  the  church.  He  aided  no  less  than 
three  hundred  young  men  in  preparation  for  the  min- 
istry, and  in  his  own  personal  visits  to  Geneva  was 
blessed  in  giving  an  evangelical  character  to  the  theo- 
logical seminary  now  under  the  care  of  Dr.  Merle 
D'Aubign^  and  men  of  kindred  spirit.  The  memoir 
of  those  noble  Christian  brothers,  an  edition  of  which 
the  American  Tract  Society  have  just  issued,  is  a  re- 
ligious biography  of  great  interest,  showing  how  emi- 
nently God  blessed  their  preaching  and  other  labors 
by  the  outpouring  of  his  Spirit.  I  might  enrich  these 
revival  sketches  with  more  copious  extracts^  but  only 
select  a  few  striking  passages. 

"In  May,  1801,  James  Haldane  proceeded  on  a 
preaching  tour  in  the  south  of  Scotland,  and  for  four 
months  preached  every  Lord's  day  to  large  congre- 
gations in  the  open  air,  and  under  a  tent,  and  every 
day  in  the  neighboring  towns  and  villages.  Of  the 
good  effects  of  these  labors  there  was  abundant  evi- 
dence. Nor  did  he,  in  1802,  seek  repose,  but  again 
went  forth  burning  with  zeal  for  Christ.  Many  in- 
teresting circumstances  were  connected  with  his 
labors  in  Buxton,  Macclesfield,  Matlock,  and  other 
places,  where  he  proclaimed  the  message  of  salvation 
in  the  towns,  villages,  hamlets,  and  green  hill-sides 
of  Derbyshire  and  Stratfordshire.  Everywhere  his 
preaching  was  acceptable,  and  often  was  it  seen  that 
the  word  was  with  power.  A  few  years  before  this 
period,  Messrs.  Simeon  and  Haldane  had  visited  Mou- 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  289 

lin,  and  as  the  result  of  their  labors  the  conversion 
of  eighty  persons  was  reported ;  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Dunkeld  a  minister  reported  one  hundred  and  forty- 
five  persons  whom  he  had  ascertained  to  be  the  fruits 
of  these  itinerating  labors,  and  in  Aberfeldie  Jifty- 
seven  attributed  their  conversion  under  God  to  the 
labors  of  Robert  Haldane's  missionaries. 

"  But  the  most  remarkable  revival  of  religion  of 
this  period  occurred  at  Breadalbane,  by  means  of  a 
Mr.  Farquharson,  a  catechist  of  lowly  origin,  who 
had  been  recommended  to  Robert  Haldane's  class 
of  students  for  the  ministry,  on  account  of  his  earnest 
piety  and  zeal.  So  great  was  the  opposition  to  this 
devoted  catechist  when  he  entered  upon  his  labors, 
that  in  a  circle  of  thirty-two  miles  round  Lochsay, 
there  were  only  three  families  who  would  receive 
him,  and  every  public-house  was  shut  against  him. 
In  spite  of  opposition  and  neglect,  he  went  during 
the  whole  winter  from  village  to  village,  reading  the 
Bible  and  speaking  the  words  of  salvation  to  all  who 
would  listen  to  him.  In  the  early  part  of  1802,  so 
extraordinary  a  revival  had  been  gradually  brought 
about,  that  one  hundred  persons  previously  ignorant  of 
the  gospel,  seemed  to  be  converted. 

''  The  accounts  of  success  in  Caithness  were  even 
more  delightful.  While  the  missionaries  were  send- 
ing home  the  intelligence  from  Breadalbane  and  else- 
where, Mr.  Cleghorn,  the  excellent  pastor  of  Wick, 
wrote  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  as  giving  evidence 
of  the  power  of  truth ;  and  adds,  that  at  Thurso  the 
gospel  had  been  at  least  equally  successful. 

"  In  the  spring  of  1805,  James  Haldane,  accompa- 

Rev.  Sketches  13 


290  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

nied  by  Mr.  Campbell,  made  a  tour  by  way  of  Pertli 
and  Dmikeld  into  Breadalbane,  and  the  people  came 
to  hear  the  gospel  by  thousands.  Mr.  Peter  Grant, 
a  pious  preacher,  says, '  The  novelty  of  a  field  preach- 
er, especially  a  gentleman,  attracted  great  multitudes. 
In  a  short  time  the  whole  country  was  in  a  stir,  and 
many  said  that  we  were  all  in  a  lost  condition; 
others  endeavored  by  argument  and  ridicule  to  ban- 
ish their  fears,  but  the  gospel  kindled  a  flame  at  that 
time,  which  I  hope  is  not  yet  extinguished.^ 

"  In  reference  to  the  work  which  had  been  per- 
formed, the  late  Dr.  Russel  has  left  this  testimony : 
'By  means  of  the  movement  which  took  place  at  that 
period,  there  was  awakened  a  spirit  of  greater  relig- 
ious zeal  in  various  religious  bodies ;  a  more  pointed 
manner  of  preaching  was  adopted  by  many.  There 
came  to  be  more  discrimination  of  character.  The 
empty  flourish  of  the  instrument  gave  place  to  the 
well-defined  tones  and  melodies  which  awaken  all 
the  sympathies  of  the  soul.  The  unfettered  freeness 
of  the  gospel  was  more  fully  proclaimed,  while  its 
practical  influence  was  more  distinctly  unfolded.  In 
the  course  of  time  there  appeared  an  increasing  num- 
ber of  evangelical  ministers  in  the  Establishment,  and 
a  beneficial  influence  was  found  to  operate  upon  other 
denominations.' " 

The  foregoing  is  a  mere  glance,  chiefly  at  the  la- 
bors and  success  of  James  Haldane  in  the  earlier  part 
of  his  long  ministry.  He  lived  to  see  his  fiftieth  an- 
niversary, and  died  not  long  after,  in  1851.  He  was 
for  half  a  century  a  revival  preacher  in  the  best 
sense  of  the  term,  and  almost  wherever  he  went  his 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  291 

labors  were  richly  blessed.  He  counted  it  his  great- 
est privilege  to  spend  and  be  spent  in  the  service, 
and  witnessed  many  scenes  of  awakening  which  we 
should  call,  and  which  truly  were,  genuine  revivals. 

Thus  all  along  from  1800  down  to  the  middle 
of  the  century,  was  God  here  and  there  reviving  his 
work  in  Scotland,  and  England  also,  under  the  labors 
of  the  Haldanes  and  other  zealous  evangelical  preach- 
ers; and  the  signs  of  the  times,  I  think,  now  give 
promise  of  approaching  rich  and  glorious  spiritual 
harvests  in  those  lands. 

GENERAL   SUMMARY  REVIEW. 

Here,  lifting  up  our  hearts  in  devOut  thanksgiv- 
ing to  God,  let  us  pause  and  review  the  ground  which 
we  have  gone  over.  We  have  seen  that  seasons  of 
special  religious  awakening  and  reformation,  bearing 
all  the  essential  features  of  genuine  modern  revivals, 
date  as  far  back  as  the  time  of  Joshua.  We  have 
seen  that  when  that  generation  had  passed  off  from 
the  stage,  after  ages  of  national  degeneracy,  there 
was  a  great  awakening,  though  of  short  continuance, 
in  the  days  of  Josiah ;  and  another  soon  after  the 
return  of  the  Jews  from  the  Babylonish  captivity,  in 
the  days  of-  Ezra  and  Nehemiah.  After  that,  there 
was  another  great  falling  away,  down  to  the  close  of 
that  dispensation  when  Shiloh  came. 

Coming  down  to  the  New  Testament,  we  have 
seen  that  there  was  a  remarkable  awakening  under 
the  preaching  of  John  the  Baptist,  when  many  were 
turned  to  the  Lord.  We  have  seen  that  there  was  a 
marvellous  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  on  the  day  of 


292  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

Pentecost,  followed  by  a  wonderful  series  of  revivals 
in  the  apostolic  age.  We  have  seen  how  fast  Chris- 
tianity spread  over  the  pagan  Roman  empire,  during 
the  second  and  third  centuries,  and  went  on  from 
conquest  to  conquest,  till,  in  the  person  of  Constan- 
tine,  it  ascended  the  throne  of  the  Cassars. 

Scarcely  had  he  descended  to  his  marble  tomb, 
when  the  "  Man  of  sin  exalted  himself,"  and  reigned 
in  his  stead ;  and  thence,  entering  the  shadows  of  spir- 
itual death,  we  groped  our  way  as  well  as  we  could 
through  the  midnight  of  a  thousand  years,  by  far  the 
longest  captivity  that  the  Christian  church  ever  en- 
dured— illumined,  indeed,  by  here  and  there  a  star 
of  the  first  magnitude,  but  scarcely  more  than  to 
make  the  darkness  visible.  It  was  then  that  the 
blood  of  the  martyrs  flowed  to  the  horse-bridles, 
and  the  devil  no  doubt  congratulated  himself  that  he 
should  be  thwarted  by  no  more  revivals. 

But  we  have  seen  how  the  glorious  Reformation 
in  the  sixteenth  century  disappointed  and  baffled  him ; 
spreading  rapidly  on  every  hand,  and  carrying  dis- 
may to  the  pontifical  throne  itself.  Marvellous  res- 
urrection, from  the  slumbers  of  so  many  ages ! 

Then,  again,  we  have  seen  how  God,  in  the  next 
century,  poured  out  his  Spirit  upon  the  north  of  Ire- 
land and  the  churches  of  Scotland  and  England,  and 
scattered  a  righteous  seed  across  the  ocean  to  people 
this  western  land. 

Coming  down  another  hundred  years,  we  have 
met  the  "  Great  Awakening,"  which  turned  back  the 
captivity  of  Zion  in  England,  Scotland,  Wales,  and 
America.     It  was   the  most  remarkable  and  wide 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  293 

spread  revival  smce  the  first  promulgation  of  the 
gospel. 

We  have  next  seen  how,  from  various  causes,  there 
were  grievous  backslidings  during  our  revolutionary 
war,  the  invasion  of  French  infidelity,  and  the  unset- 
tled state  of  the  country,  till  near  the  close  of  the 
last  century ;  and  how  God  then  once  more  interpos- 
ed by  "  reviving  his  work  in  the  midst  of  the  years,'' 
and  visiting  his  American  heritage  with  an  almost 
unbroken  series  of  revivals,  down  to  the  present  time. 

Thus  unmistakably  has  it  been  God's  method, 
under  different  dispensations,  aud  all  along  through 
the  ages,  to  carry  on  his  work  by  successive  outpour- 
ings of  his  Spirit. 

From  this  history  of  the  past,  we  may  derive  in- 
struction and  encouragement  for  the  future.  We 
cannot  perhaps  confidently  predict,  in  this  case,  that 
"  that  which  hath  been,  shall  be."  But  how,  in  view 
of  the  past,  can  any  church  rest  contented  with  only 
such  gradual  additions  as  are  ordinarily  made  where 
for  long  years  there  are  no  revivals?  Does  not  ex- 
perience prove  that  such  churches,  even  if  their  num- 
bers are  not  diminished  by  death  and  removals,  lose 
much  of  the  life  and  power  of  religion  ?  However  it 
may  be  elsewhere,  I  am  quite  sure  it  has  been  and  is 
30  in  this  country.  The  exceptions,  if  any,  are  very 
few  indeed.  If  a  church  that  has  been  running  down, 
or  standing  still  in  cold  formalism,  could  not  hope  for 
a  revival,  how  gloomy  would  be  its  prospects  for 
coming  years  and  generations.  But  with  the  records 
of  the  past,  in  Bible  and  church  history,  and  in  view 
of  what  God  is  now  doing,  how  great  the  encourage- 


294  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

ment  that,  in  answer  to  prayer,  He  will  revive  his 
work  even  where  to  human  appearance  the  prospects 
are  darkest. 

As  God  waits  to  be  inquired  of  before  he  pours 
out  his  Spirit,  how  earnestly  ought  every  church  to 
pray  and  labor  for  the  blessing.  Yes,  to  labor  as 
well  as  to  pray ;  for  there  is  much  work  to  be  done, 
as  well  as  much  prayer  to  be  offered.  The  fallow 
ground  must  be  broken  up ;  the  backsliding  church 
must  rise  and  shake  herself  from  the  dust.  She  must 
do  works  meet  for  repentance.  She  must  carry  her 
Master's  gracious  invitation  to  all  within  her  reach. 
She  must  go  out  into  the  highways  and  hedges,  and 
compel  them  to  come  in,  that  his  table  may  be  filled 
with  guests.  No  church  that  is  settled  down  on  her 
lees  has  any  warrant  to  expect  a  revival.  "  Go,  work 
to-day  in  my  vineyard,"  is  the  command.  Soul-har- 
vests are  to  be  secured  by  interceding  for  them,  to  the 
Lord  of  the  harvest,  and  by  cooperating  with  the 
Holy  Spirit,  in  humble  subordination,  as  laborers  to- 
gether with  him.  It  was  the  servant  who  went  into 
the  vineyard  who  received  the  reward,  and  not  he 
who  stayed  behind,  saying,  I  go,  sir,  but  went  not. 

To  crown  the  whole,  we  have  seen  that,  beginning 
with  the  apostles,  all  the  prominent  laborers  in  the 
revivals  for  eighteen  hundred  years,  have,  in  every 
thing  essential,  seen  eye  to  eye,  and  minded  the  same 
things;  as  much  so,  as  if  they  had  all  lived  in  the 
same  age,  and  labored  together  in  the  same  glorious 
cause.  Though  differing  somewhat  in  the  external 
means  employed,  they  preached  the  same  doctrines, 
urged  the  same  motives  to  faith  and  repentance,  and 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  295 

looked  for  success  to  one  and  the  same  infinite  source 
of  all  wisdom  and  efficiency.  In  coming  along  down 
through  the  centuries,  it  is  delighful  to  see  how  they 
agreed  together,  how  the  same  Spirit  was  in  the  re- 
vivals, awakening  sinners,  raising  them  by  his  quick- 
ening and  almighty  power  from  spiritual  death  to  a 
new  life,  and  working  in  them  "to  will  and  to  do 
according  to  his  own  good  pleasure,"  Oh,  they  are 
all  divinely  illuminated  chapters  in  the  history  of 
Redemption,  '  What  would  the  world  have  been  with- 
out them?  How  could  the  gospel  have  been  spread 
in  the  first  ages  as  it  was,  without  revivals  ?  And 
so  in  every  age  they  have  been  as  life  from  the  dead 
to  the  church. 

In  our  own  country  what  would  have  become  of 
the  churches,  but  for  the  "  Great  Awakening "  and 
the  Revivals  of  1800,  and  those  by  which  they  have 
since  been  so  often  refreshed?  From  what  other 
sources  could  they  have  obtained  an  adequate  supply 
of  faithful  and  godly  ministers?  What,  without  them, 
would  have  been  our  religious  condition  at  this  hour ; 
aye,  and  our  temporal  condition  too  ?  Who  will  say, 
or  believe,  that  there  would  now  have  been  three  or 
four  millions  of  professors,  or  half  that  number,  in  the 
evangelical  churches  of  this  land?  Great  as  are  our 
obligations  of  praise  and  thanksgiving  to  God  for 
giving  us  rain  from  heaven  and  fruitful  seasons,  fill- 
ing our  hearts  with  food  and  gladness,  who  can  say 
that  they  are  less  due  to  him  for  raining  down  right- 
eousness upon  us,  as  he  has  done  in  these  times  of 
refreshing. 

All  evangelical  Christians  agree  that  God  pours 


296  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

out  his  Spirit  in  answer  to  heliemng  prayer,  and  that 
the  more  earnest  and  specific  the  prayer,  the  greater 
the  encouragement  that  the  very  thing  asked  for  will 
be  granted.  In  his  infinite  wisdom  and  sovereignty, 
God  may  sometimes  depart  from  his  general  method 
in  carrying  forward  the  work  of  redemption.  We 
have  no  right  to  say  that  he  never  pours  down  his 
Spirit  upon  a  church  and  congregation,  till  it  is  spe- 
cifically and  earnestly  prayed  for;  but  if  there  be 
any  such  exceptions,  I  am  persuaded  they  are  very 
few.  I  very  much  doubt  whether,  if  we  could  see  the 
connection  between  prayer  and  the  glorious  revivals 
that  have  blessed  this  land,  we  should  find  one  that 
was  not  definitely  prayed  for  by  some  earnest  wres- 
tlers, or  wrestler,  at  the  throne  of  gi-ace.  God  loves 
to  hear  the  petitions  of  his  children  for  the  blessing 
of  the  Spirit,  and  in  this  richest  of  his  gifts  to  grant 
the  very  thing  asked  for,  just  as  parents  do  when 
they  give  bread  to  their  children. 

Now  we  cannot  ask  our  heavenly  Father  to  revive 
his  work  in  any  place,  unless  we  truly  desire  it.  If 
for  any  reason  we  are  afraid  that  it  would  not  be  a 
blessing,  it  would  be  scarcely  less  than  mockery  to 
ask  for  it.  No  truly  pious  person  could  understand- 
ingly  do  it.  To  pray  aright,  we  must  from  the  bot- 
tom of  our  hearts  desire  the  things  we  ask  for.  Noth- 
ing seems  plainer  to  me,  than  that  this  is  essential  to 
true  prayer. 

If  a  church  can  be  found  in  this  land,  or  any  other 
land,  where  the  minister  and  the  members  of  it  are 
afraid  of  such  genuine  revivals  as  distinguish  the 
religious  history  of  this  country,  they  cannot  honestly 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  29t 

pray  for  them;  and  would  it  be  strange  if  such  a 
church  and  congregation  were  passed  by,  when  other 
places  around  were  visited?  Would  it  not,  on  the 
contrary,  be  strange  if  it  received  the  blessing?  Is 
there  evidence  that  God  ever  revives  his  work  where 
it  is  not  wished  for?  If  I  knew  that  anywhere  revi- 
vals were  not  desired,  but  rather  dreaded,  I  should 
want  no  other  explanation  of  the  fact  that  they  are 
not  enjoyed.  This  seems  to  me  to  be  reason  enough. 
There  may  be  individual  conversions  and  gradual 
additions  to  the  churches  in  answer  to  prayer,  and 
because  they  are  desired ;  but  can  such  glorious  har- 
vests as  many  of  our  churches  have  from  time  to  time 
been  reaping  be  expected,  if  not  desired,  or  prayed  or 
labored  for? 

When  I  was  abroad  more  than  twenty  years  ago, 
and  when  many  powerful  revivals  were  in  progress 
here  at  home,  I  was  often  inquired  of  by  ministers, 
whether  the  accounts  which  they  had  heard  were 
true ;  and  what  was  the  character,  and  what  were  the 
fruits  of  these  revivals.  In  answering  these  questions 
as  well  as  I  could,  I  magnified  the  grace  of  God  in  what 
I  had  myself  witnessed.  The  impression  upon  some 
minds  was  obviously  very  favorable.  They  desired  to 
share  in  the  same  blessing,  and  doubtless  prayed  for  it 
not  in  vain.  There  was  soon  after  what  we  should 
call  a  genuine  revival  in  Dr.  Reed's  church  in  London, 
wlio  had  travelled  extensively  in  this  country  the  year 
before,  and  witnessed  what  God  was  doing  among  us. 
And  other  such  revivals  I  believe  there  have  since 
been  in  England,  though  not  so  much  spoken  of  un- 
der that  name  as  they  would  have  been  with  us. 

13* 


REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

Within  tlie  last  year,  our  brethren  in  England  and 
Scotland  have  been  remarkably  stirred  up  to  the 
establishment  of  church  and  union  prayer-meetings 
for  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  and  from  the  latest 
accounts  it  would  seem  the  Lord  has  heard  and  an- 
swered. It  looks  very  much  as  if  revivals  were  now 
springing  up  in  various  parts  of  the  kingdom.  May 
they  be  increased  a  thousand-fold,  not  only  there,  but 
in  all  the  fatherlands  as  well  as  our  own.  Oh,  how 
delightful  it  will  be  to  hear  songs,  "  Glory  to  the 
righteous,"  borne  across  the  ocean  on  every  breeze  I 
"  Though  the  vision  tarry,  let  us  wait  for  it ;  because 
it  will  surely  come,  it  will  not  tarry." 

God  will  work  all  things  according  to  his  own 
holy  and  righteous  will,  but  who  can  conceive  that 
all  the  dark  and  besotted  millions  of  heathen  and 
nominally  Christian  lands  will  be  brought  to  Christ 
solely  by  the  slow  process  of  individual  conversions 
through  the  long  succession  of  years  and  centuries? 
As  the  revival  which  has  just  occurred  in  our  own 
land,  in  some  of  its  features,  differs  from,  and  I  think 
is  in  advance  of  any  former  revival  era,  so  God  may 
speedily  bring  up  the  churches  to  a  still  higher  stand- 
ard, and  multiply  conversions  both  at  home  and 
abroad,  beyond  any  thing  that  has  yet  been  witnessed. 
Every  one  will  admit  that  this  is  possible. 

I  can  conceive  that  multitudes  more  of  the  hopeless 
classes  of  the  wicked  may  be  plucked  from  the  burn- 
ing, than  in  any  former  revival.  I  can  conceive  that 
far  greater  numbers  of  the  young  may  be  born  again, 
than  ever  before,  where  God  has  poured  out  his  Spir- 
it.   I  can  conceive  that  where  whole  classes  have 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  299 

sometimes  been  converted  in  our  Sabbath  and  other 
schools,  all  the  classes  may  be  taken  in  a  single  year, 
or  month.  I  can  conceive  that  the  next  revival  may 
spread  over  the  whole  land ;  that  not  a  single  church 
may  be  passed  by ;  that  it  may  find  its  way  into  both 
houses  of  Congress,  and  pervade  all  the  halls  of  leg- 
islation, and  bring  our  great  men  with  all  their  influ- 
ence into  the  churches.  I  can  conceive  that  God 
may  give  his  ministers  higher  qualifications  for  their 
work,  endowing  them  all  with  a  double  portion  of 
his  Spirit,  that  he  may  convert  all  our  merchant-ships, 
and  all  the  navy,  like  the  ship-of-war  "North  Caro- 
lina," into  Bethels  to  bear  the  songs  of  salvation  with 
our  stripes  and  stars  round  the  world,  and  that  all 
the  officers  and  soldiers  in  our  army  may  become  sol- 
diers of  the  cross. 

The  Spirit  is  not  bound.  Nothing  is  too  hard  for 
the  Lord.  I  can  conceive  that  in  one  or  more  of 
these  respects  the  next  revival  may  be  far  in  advance 
of  the  present,  and  that  in  as  many  of  them  as  may 
precede  the  millennium  and  bring  it  on,  the  last  may 
be  the  most  glorious  of  all.  Then  there  will  be  no 
more  room  nor  need  of  what  we  now  mean  by  revi- 
vals, for  the  churches  will  always  remain  in  a  reviv- 
ed state;  but  I  am  afraid  not  before.  Then,  in  the 
thousand  years  promised  and  sure  to  come,  all  shall 
know  the  Lord,  from  the  least  to  the  greatest. 

How  the  successive  generations  will  be  gathered 
into  the  fold  of  the  true  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  their 
souls,  we  cannot  tell.  Children  will  then  be  "by 
nature  children  of  wrath  "  as  they  are  now,  and  will 
just  as  much  need  to  be  born  again  by  the  Spirit. 


300  REVIVAL  SKETCHES. 

Whether  they  will  be  sanctified  from  the  womb,  we 
do  not  know ;  but  if  not,  we  have  reason  to  think  it 
will  be  in  very  early  childhood.  I  cannot  believe 
they  will  be  left  for  years  to  grow  up  enemies  to 
God,  when  with  infinite  ease  he  can  convert  them 
before  they  begin  to  harden  themselves  in  rebellion 
against  him.  It  seems  to  me  it  could  not  be  the  mil- 
lennium which  the  Scriptures  promise.  All  would  not 
know  the  Lord,  from  the  least  to  the  greatest. 

But  I  make  no  pretensions  to  be  wise  above  what 
is  written.  In  his  own  time  and  way,  the  whole 
"earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  and  glory 
of  the  Lord." 

And  now,  in  closing  these  imperfect  sketches,  I 
feel  specially  called  upon  to  lift  up  my  heart  in  de- 
vout thanksgivings  to  God,  that  he  has  permitted  me 
to  live  in  this  eventful  age  of  the  world's  religious 
history ;  that  for  more  than  fifty  years,  I  have  had 
such  advantages  for  studying  the  character  and  mark- 
ing the  progress  of  revivals,  and  laboring  in  them  as 
God  has  given  me  strength  for  the  service,  during  a 
pastorate  of  sixteen  years  in  two  rural  parishes,  twen- 
ty-two years  as  a  pastor  and  teacher  in  a  public  sem- 
inary, and  as  a  helper  to  my  brethren  in  such  times 
of  refreshing  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord.  Oh,  to 
have  been  allowed  to  witness  the  triumphs  of  Zion's 
King,  travelling  in  the  greatness  of  his  strength,  since 
I  came  upon  the  stage;  to  have  been  spared*  to  go 
back  into  the  ages  past,  and  trace  the  footsteps  of 
the  Angel  of  the  covenant  down  through  so  many 

*  Dr.  Humphrey,  in  writing  this,  had  reached  the  age  of 
fourscore  years. 


NINETEENTH  CENTURY.  301 

centuries,  and  to  bear  this  testimony  in  favor  of  an- 
cient and  modern  revivals ;  what  a  privilege !  It  is 
at  best,  but  a  rapid,  imperfect  sketch  that  I  have 
given.  Others  I  am  sure  could  have  done  it  better, 
What  a  history  will  that  be,  when  some  one  compe- 
tent to  the  task  shall  collect  and  arrange  the  materi- 
als which  are  already  so  ample  for  a  great  work,  and 
which  will  be  increased  by  every  future  revival.  That 
day  will  come ;  and  then,  how  much  will  such  a  his- 
tory, recording  the  triumphs  of  the  Captain  of  salva- 
tion over  the  prince  of  darkness,  surpass  all  the  con- 
quests of  all  the  Alexanders,  Caesar S;  and  Napoleons 
of  the  world ! 


PAET  SECOND. 


REVIVAL  MANUAL 


CHAPTER   YIII. 

"PREPARE  YE  THE  WAT  OF  THE  LORD." 

Having  in  the  preceding  sketches  traced  the 
progress  of  true  religion  down  through  the  ages  for 
more  than  three  thousand  years,  and  established,  as  I 
think,  the  great  fact,  that  the  church  has  been  restor- 
ed from  her  many  backslidings  mainly  by  successive 
reformations  or  revivals,  in  other  words,  by  special 
outpourings  of  the  Spirit,  the  way  is  now  prepared  to 
inquire,  with  devout  supplications  for  divine  guidance, 
how  such  revivals  are  to  be  sought  for,  and  by  what 
means  they  may  be  promoted.  These  are  vital  prac- 
tical questions. 

I  am  far  from  supposing  that  there  are  any  exclu- 
sive methods  of  promoting  revivals,  suited  to  all  cases 
and  circumstances.    Whatever  instrumentalities  may 


304  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

be  employed,  there  are  two  conditions  whicli  must 
never  be  lost  sight  of: 

That  there  can  never  be  any  true  revival  without 
the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  and  that  it  can  proceed 
no  further  than  it  is  carried  forward  by  that  divine 
influence;  and 

That  a  revival  is  never  to  be  expected  but  in  an- 
swer to  prayer. 

But  beyond  these  two  conditions  there  is  room  for 
different  administrations,  as  there  are  divers  opera- 
tions by  the  same  Spirit.  Guided  by  the  teachings  of 
the  word  and  Spirit  of  God,  there  is  room  for  the 
exercise  of  a  sound  discretion,  aided  by  the  best 
experience  which  the  history  of  revivals  furnishes; 
and  this  is  what,  seeking  divine  assistance,  I  have 
attempted  in  this  humble  manual.  It  is  the  result 
of  my  own  experience  and  observation,  with  the  best 
helps  which  I  have  been  able  to  derive  from  other 
sources. 

"O  LORD,  REVIVE  THY  WORK." 

This  prayer  was  offered  by  the  prophet  in  a  time 
of  great  religious  declension.  The  people  had  "  slid- 
den  back  by  a  perpetual  backsliding,"  and  he  felt 
that  nothing  short  of  a  revival  could  save  tliem  from 
utter  apostasy.  It  was  the  greatest  and  most  urgent 
of  all  their  needs. 

As  it  was  then  so  it  is  now,  wherever  a  church  is 
in  a  cold  backsliding  state,  and  sinners  are  slumber- 
ing on  the  verge  of  the  pit.  That  the  need  is  not  felt, 
that  the  danger  is  not  apprehended,  is  so  far  from 
proving  that  no  special  revival  is  needed,  that  this 


O  LORD,  REVIVE  THY  WORK.  305 

state  of  things  in  any  church  and  congregation  makes 
a  revival  more  necessary  ;  the  more  profound  the  in- 
difference, the  greater  the  necessity. 

Is  this  the  case,  dear  brethren,  with  you?  You 
either  need  a  revival,  or  you  do  not.  Perhaps  your 
church  and  congregation  are  large,  strong,  and  united.  - 
You  have  a  good  minister  and  support  him  well,  and 
your  congregation  rather  increases  from  year  to  year, 
than  diminishes.  You  are  ready  to  say  with  the 
church  of  Laodicea,  "We  are  rich  and  increased  with 
goods,  and  have  need  of  nothing."  Is  this  your  con- 
dition? are  these  your  contented  feelings?  Then,  like 
that  church,  are  you  not  spiritually  "wretched  and 
miserable  and  poor  and  blind  and  naked ;"  and  ex- 
cept you  repent,  what  will  all  your  harmony  and  out- 
ward prosperity  avail? 

How  long  is  it  that  you  have  been  thus  settled 
down  upon  your  lees,  sowing  pillows  under  all  arm- 
holes?  How  many  years  since  you  have  had  a  revi- 
val? How  is  it  with  the  rising  generation?  Are 
they  converted,  or  likely  to  be,  without  a  revival? 
The  older  members  of  your  church  are  passing  off, 
and  who  are  to  fill  their  places,  if  others  are  not 
"  baptized  for  the  dead?"  And  what  are  you  doing? 
Are  you  on  your  knees,  praying  with  the  prophet, 
"  0  Lord,  revive  thy  work  in  the  midst  of  the  years ;" 
or  are  you  waiting  for  one  another,  hoping  that  the 
whole  church  will  wake  up,  and  call  upon  God  for  the 
blessing?  If  waiting  for  this,  your  expectations  will 
never  be  realized.  That  time  will  never  come.  We 
have  no  reason  to  think  that  all  the  members  of  any 
church  are  themselves  truly  converted;  and  if  not, 


306  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

how  can  all  the  church  be  expected  to  unite  in  pre- 
vailing prayer  ? 

Other  churches  around  may  be  as  languid  as  you 
are,  or  they  may  not.  If  they  are,  is  that  any  reason 
why  you  should  remain  so?  Ought  it  not  to  awaken 
your  fears  that  God  has  forsaken  the  whole  region, 
saying,  "  They  are  joined  to  their  idols ;  let  them 
alone."  If,  on  the  other  hand,  your  neighbors  are 
rejoicing  in  the  midst  of  revivals,  why  should  you 
not  be  excited  and  encouraged  to  strive  for  the  bless- 
ing? 

How,  dear  brethren,  would  it  be  with  you,  in  an- 
other case  somewhat  analogous,  though  infinitely  less 
urgent.  Suppose  there  was  a  great  drought  in  your 
town,  consuming  all  your  crops  and  threatening  you 
with  famine  when  what  you  have  on  hand  shall  all 
be  eaten  up;  and  suppose  the  same  were  the  case 
with  all  the  region  aronnd,  would  it  give  you  any 
comfort  to  know  that  you  were  no  worse  off  than 
your  neighbors  ?  Or  if  the  showers  were  refreshing 
their  parched  fields,  would  it  not  awaken  and  in- 
crease your  anxiety  for  equally  copious  rains?  Oh, 
with  what  eagerness  would  you  watch  the  rising 
clouds,  and  how  it  would  distress  you  to  see  them 
from  day  to  day  passing  by  upon  the  mountains,  and 
leaving  your  farms  to  become  "powder  and  dust," 
under  a  brazen  and  burning  sky. 

And  how  can  you  remain  indifferent  while  a  more 
parching  spiritual  drought  is  consuming  you  ?  Will 
you  not  rise  as  one  man,  and  call  upon  God  to  pour 
down  the  rain  from  the  upper  heavens,  to  revive  his 
work  in  the  midst  of  the  years  ? 


LORD,  INCREASE  OUR  FAITH.  301 

"LORD,  INCREASE  OUR  FAITH." 

The  disciples  had  faith,  but  on  the  occasion  in 
•which  this  prayer  is  recorded,  they  seem  not  to  have 
had  the  faith  necessary  to  work  miracles  in  Christ's 
name.  They  now  felt  their  deficiency,  and  prayed 
their  Master  to  help  them — to  increase  their  faith,  so 
that  they  might  be  able  to  make  full  proof  of  its 
power.  They  were  brought  to  feel  their  absolute 
dependence  on  Christ  for  the  increase  which  they 
needed,  at  the  same  time  that  they  felt  they  deserved 
his  rebuke  for  their  unbelief. 

In  like  manner,  Christians  are  absolutely  depend- 
ent on  Christ  to  enable  them  to  pray  in  faith  for  a 
revival,  or  when  it  is  in  progress,  that  it  may  be  con- 
tinued. How  often  have  we  heard  the  exhortation, 
"Pray,  pray  in  faith,  and  God  will  certainly  hear  and 
answer  you."  This  is  very  true.  It  shall  not  be  said 
that  such  praying  breath  was  ever  spent  in  vain.  But 
faith  is  the  gift  of  God ;  and  how  can  you  pray  in 
faith,  till  you  receive  the  gift?  .The  Christian,  wheth- 
er in  a  revival  or  out  of  a  revival,  is  dependent  on 
Christ  for  a  spirit  of  prayer. 

Every  true  Christian  has  some  faith,  however 
weak  and  wavering,  as  the  disciples  had,  and  can 
therefore  pray  as  they  did,  "  Lord,  increase  my  faith  f 
but  that  faith,  though  less  than  "  a  grain  of  mustard 
seed,"  would  be  as  much  the  gift  of  God  as  was  the 
strong  faith  of  Abraham  or>  Moses. 

If  this  be  so,  what  is  one  of  the  first  duties  of  the 
members  of  a  church,  when  their  graces  are  languish- 
ing, and  stupidity  reigns  throughout  the  whole  com- 
munity?   Is  it  not  prayer  for  themselves?   "Lord,  stir 


308  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

US  up,  give  us  a  spirit  of  prayer  for  those  wlio  are  per- 
ishing around  us.  Lord,  we  believe  thy  promises; 
help  thou  our  unbelief.  Increase  our  faith."  This  is 
beginning  at  the  beginning,  and  if  you  are  in  a  cold, 
backsliding  state,  what  can  you  do  ?  What  will  your 
prayers  for  a  revival  avail,  till  you  have  a  revival 
spirit  of  prayer  ?  And  will  you  not  earnestly  ask  for 
that,  as  the  first  and  essential  thing?  See  what  Da- 
vid's penitential  prayer  after  his  fall  was :  "  Restore 
unto  me  the  joy  of  thy  salvation,  and  uphold  me  by 
thy  free  Spirit;  then  will  I  teach  transgressors  thy 
ways,  and  sinners  shall  be  converted  unto  thee." 

So,  dear  friends,  when  iniquity  abounds,  and  your 
love  waxes  cold,  should  you  say,  "Lord,  increase  our 
faith,"  then  will  we  pray  earnestly  and  prevailingly 
for  the  revival  of  thy  work  in  the  midst  of  us.  Oh, 
how  much  prayer  for  the  conversion  of  sinners  is  lost, 
for  want  of  faith  in  the  hearts  of  Christians. 

HINDERANCES  TO  REVIVALS. 

Are  there  any;  and  if  so,  what  are  they?  That 
there  are  no  insuperable  obstacles  in  the  way  we 
know,  for  revivals  have  often  taken  place  where,  to 
human  view,  they  were  least  to  be  expected.  And 
yet  there  are  hinderances  everywhere,  which  nothing 
short  of  divine  power  can  overcome.  These  are  the 
worlds  the  flesh,  and  the  devil.  I  know  of  none  but  may 
be  classed  under  one  or  the  other  of  these  three  ob- 
stacles. 

1.  The  world,  by  which  I  mean  its  inbred  hostility 
to  all  spiritual  religion,  whether  in  individuals  or 
communities :  its  direct  hostility,  its  maxims,  its  al- 


HINDERANCES  TO  REVIVALS.  309 

lurements,  its  temptations  in  their  wily  and  protean 
forms,  stand  directly  in  the  way  of  a  revival.  There 
never  would  be  one  if  the  world,  thus  understood, 
could  prevent  it.  In  enlightened  Christian  commu- 
nities, unconverted  men  may  profess  to  be  the  friends 
of  true  religion,  and  to  wish  to  see  it  prosper ;  but  as 
in  their  hearts  they  are  opposed  to  it,  they  will,  in 
one  way  or  another,  discourage  that  interest  and  con- 
cern in  which  a  true  revival  consists.  They  want  to 
have  things  continue  as  they  are.  "We  are  now  at 
peace  among  ourselves,"  they  say,  "  and  why  should 
it  be  broken  in  upon?  Why  not  let  well  enough 
alone?  Religion  is  a  good  thing,"  it  may  be  added, 
"but  all  public  excitements  are  dangerous.  These 
revivals,  as  they  are  called,  lead  to  enthusiasm  and 
fanaticism.  They  often  divide  churches  and  families, 
and  are  rather  to  be  dreaded  than  desired."  Thus 
do  the  opposers  of  revivals  reason  in  their  hearts,  if 
they  do  not  think  it  polite  to  speak  it  openly.  All 
their  influence  is  directly  or  indirectly  against  them. 
This,  in  many  places,  is  a  veiy  great  hinderance. 

And  the  world,  ever  wise  to  do  evil,  knows  how 
to  set  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eyes,  and 
the  pride  of  life  against  the  intrusion  of  revivals.  It 
holds  up  so  many  dazzling  fascinations,  it  keeps  men 
so  busy,  so  eager  in  the  pursuit  of  pleasure,  riches, 
and  display,  that  they  have  no  time  for  any  thing  bet- 
ter. It  spreads  out  all  these  allurements,  and  hangs 
them  up  in  their  most  tempting  attractions  along  the 
broad  way;  and  alas,  with  what  success — drowning 
thoughtless  multitudes  "  in  destruction  and  perdition." 
How  many  revivals  have  been  kept  out  by  these  hos- 


310  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

tile  influences,  will  not  be  known  till  the  day  of  judg- 
ment; but  they  are  certainly  great  hinderances.  In 
fine,  whatever  the  world  can  do  to  hedge  up  the  way 
against  revivals,  we  may  rest  assured  will  be  done 
in  one  way  or  another.     But, 

2.  The  flesh  is  a  still  more  insidious  and  danger- 
ous foe  to  revivals.  There  is  more  danger  within, 
than  without.  The  hinderances  are  greater  from  the 
church  itself,  than  from  the  world.  It  is  reasonably 
expected,  that  those  who  profess  religion  will  do 
more  to  honor  and  promote  it  by  their  example,  by 
their  consistent  lives,  and  by  their  active  influence 
than  any,  or  than  all  others  out  of  the  pale  of  the 
church.  Hinderances  from  this  quarter  are  often 
many  and  exceedingly  grievous.  Sometimes  there 
are  bitter  internal  dissensions,  which  would  disgrace 
any  mere  worldly  association.  "  Brother  goeth  to 
law  with  brother."  The  personal  friends  of  the  par- 
ties take  sides  with  their  respective  favorites,  and 
thus  the  breach  is  widened,  "  as  when  one  letteth  out 
water."  The  house  is  divided  against  itself.  Crimi- 
nations and  recriminations  are  engendered  and  mul- 
tiplied. The  world  looks  on  jeeringly,  and  exclaims, 
"Behold  how  these  Christians  hate  one  another!  If 
this  is  religion,  we  want  none  of  it.  If  these  are  some 
of  the  fruits  of  revivals,  the  fewer  the  better." 

Sometimes  reproaches  come  from  open  and  indulg- 
ed immorality.  Members  of  the  church  become  in- 
temperate, dishonest  in  their  dealings,  or  fall  into 
other  habitual  transgressions  of  the  second  table  of 
the  law,  bringing  great  scandal  upon  their  profession, 
and  are  not  called  to  account  by  the  church.     They 


HINDERANCES  TO  REYIYALS.  311 

are  allowed  to  retain  their  standing,  and  come  to  the 
Lord's  table,  year  after  year.  The  world  looks  on 
and  perhaps  says,  "  Here  you  see  some  of  the  fruits  of 
a  great  revival,  as  it  was  called,  years  ago.  These 
were  some  of  the  converts.  See  what  they  have 
come  to,  and  see  how  the  church  winks  at  such  scan- 
dalous violations  of  their  covenant,  when  they  are 
known  and  read  of  all  men.  We  don't  vrish  to  see 
any  more  such  revivals." 

Or  if  the  church-members  become  so  conformed 
to  the  world,  to  its  feverish  passion  for  money  get- 
ting and  show,  for  doubtful,  if  not  positively  sinful 
amusements;  if  they  strive  to  outshine  the  gay  and 
thoughtless  in  dress,  in  furniture,  in  parties,  in  equi- 
page ;  if  instead  of  "  striving  against  sin,"  they  fall 
in  with  the  loose  maxims  of  mere  worldly  men,  it 
cannot  but  be  noticed  by  those  who  make  no  preten- 
sions to  piety,  and  thus  prejudice  many,  not  only 
against  real  religion,  but  against  all  revivals,  since 
in  many  cases  it  is  understood  that  the  majority  of 
the  church-members  have  been  brought  in  during 
such  seasons  of  religious  interest. 

These  are  "works  of  the  flesh,"  yielding  to  biases 
within  and  temptations  without,  which  are  among 
the  greatest  hinderances  to  revivals.  Such  churches 
are  in  no  condition  to  receive  the  blessing.  The 
wonder  is,  not  that  they  are  passed  by  for  years  and 
years,  but  that  they  are  ever  visited. 

3.  There  are  still  other  hinderances  from  a  great- 
er foe  than  either  the  world  or  the  flesh,  "  the  vnles 
of  the  devil,^^  who  is  sure  to  guard  the  entrance  to  a 
revival  by  throwing  every  obstacle  in  the  way,  that 


312  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

his  vast  capacity  and  malignity  can  invent.  Against 
these  the  church  cannot  too  vigilantly  work,  or  too 
earnestly  pray.  His  devices  to  keep  out  revivals, 
and  to  oppose  and  corrupt  them  in  their  progress, 
are  inexhaustible.  If  he  could  prevent  it,  there 
never  would  be  another.  Blessed  assurance,  that 
"for  this  purpose  the  Son  of  God  was  manifested, 
that  he  might  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil  f  and 
He  will  do  it.  He  is  doing  it,  by  various  instrumen- 
talities in  the  heathen  world,  and  by  revivals  there, 
as  well  as  in  Christian  lands. 

All  these  three,  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil, 
are  positive  hinderances,  and  if  Grod  does  not  inter- 
pose, either  of  them  is  sufficient  to  prevent  a  revival. 

"TAKE    UP    THE    STUMBLING-BLOCKS    OUT    OF 
THE  WAY." 

Having  pointed  out  some  of  the  main  hinderances 
and  obstacles  which  lie  in  the  way  of  revivals,  I  feel 
bound  to  show,  if  I  can,  what  is  to  be  done  to  remove 
the  stumbling-blocks — how  the  way  of  the  Lord  may 
be  prepared,  that  he  may  come  into  his  vineyard  and 
water  it.  Where  great  obstacles  lie  in  the  way  of 
any  thing,  they  must  be  removed.  This  is  the  first 
step.  It  may  or  may  not  be  all  that  is  required  in 
any  given  case,  but  it  is  the  first  thing  to  be  done. 
The  stone  that  blocks  the  wheels  must  be  removed. 
Obstacles  which  by  accident  or  design  forbid  the 
advance  of  the  railcars  must  be  taken  away,  the  track 
must  be  cleared ;  then  they  can  proceed,  but  not  be- 
fore. So  with  all  physical  impediments ;  they  must 
be  removed,  or  in  some  way  overcome. 


HINDERANCES  TO  REVIVALS.  313 

The  same  is  true  in  morals  and  religion,  within 
their  legitimate  spheres.  Whatever  hinder ances  are 
found  to  lie  in  the  path,  must  be  taken  out  of  the 
way.  These  hinderances  to  revivals,  as  we  have 
seen,  are  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil.  We 
cannot  prepare  the  way  by  gaining  "the  friendship 
of  the  world,'^  which  "is  enmity  with  God;"  but  by 
his  help,  we  can  counteract  its  hostile  influences  upon 
ourselves  and  others.  Neither  individuals  nor  church- 
es can  secure  themselves  from  those  outward  tempta- 
tions which  war  against  the  soul ;  but  by  the  grace 
of  God,  they  can  resist  them.  They  can  let  their 
own  light  so  shine  before  men,  that  there  shall  be  no 
occasion  to  inquire,  "What  do  ye  more  than  others?*' 
They  can  so  withdraw  from  conformity  to  the  world, 
and  so  carefully  shun  all  appearance  of  evil,  as  to 
shut  the  mouths  of  gainsayers,  and  constrain  them  to 
admit,  that  there  must  be  a  reality  in  religion,  and 
that  revivals  which  produce  such  fruits  cannot  be  of 
men,  but  must  come  from  a  higher  power.  A  church 
that  has  let  down  its  watch,  and  ceased  to  discipline 
its  members  when  they  fall  away  and  bring  reproach 
upon  the  cause  of  Christ,  can  repent,  and  purge  out 
the  old  leaven,  and  take  away  the  reproach.  A  back- 
sliding church  can  rise  and  shake  herself  from  the 
dust,  in  spite  of  all  the  opiates  that  the  world  has 
power  to  administer.  She  can  betake  herself  in  ear- 
nest to  invite  a  revival,  by  taking  up  the  stumbling- 
blocks  which  impede  the  chariot  of  salvation. 

There  is  no  preventing  our  adversary  the  devil 
from  employing  all  his  temptations  and  stratagems  to 
keep  out  revivals.   There  is  nothing  that  he  hates  and 

Rev.  Sketches.  14 


314  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

fears  so  much  as  the  opening  of  the  heavens  to  pour 
down  righteousness  upon  a  languishing  church,  and  a 
dying  congregation.  With  his  consent,  as  I  have  said, 
there  would  never  be  another  "awakening,"  great 
or  small,  to  the  end  of  the  world.  But  we  "  are  not 
ignorant  of  his  devices,"  and  he  can  be  resisted. 
When  the  proper  means  are  used  to  obtain  the  bless- 
ing, he  can  no  more  prevent  a  spiritual  shower  from 
descending  upon  the  most  parched  enclosure  of  the 
vineyard,  than  he  can  stay  the  bottles  of  heaven 
when  the  dust  groweth  into  hardness,  and  the  clouds 
cleave  fast  together. 

There  are  no  hinderances  to  revivals  from  with- 
out or  within,  but  may  be  removed  or  overcome.  It 
is  not  in  wicked  men  or  devils  to  fence  out  these  vis- 
itations from  on  high,  to  throw  such  stumbling-blocks 
in  the  way  that  they  cannot  enter.  Every  tempta- 
tion, every  opposing  influence,  whether  open  or  secret, 
may  be  successfully  resisted ;  "  not  by  might,  nor  by 
power,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts." 

THE  SAVIOUR'S  RETURN. 

"  When  Jesus  returned,  the  people  gladly  received 
him ;  for  they  were  all  waiting  for  him."  Christ  had 
crossed  over  the  lake  of  Galilee  to  Gadara,  where  he 
found  a  raving  maniac  among  the  tombs  possessed 
with  many  devils,  and  cast  them  out.  How  long  he 
staid  there,  we  are  not  informed ;  but  when  he  came 
back,  he  found  the  people  gathered  on  the  shore  and 
waiting  for  him.  They  had  enjoyed  his  presence 
and  instructions  and  seen  his  miracles,  and  they  were 
so  anxious  for  his  return,  that  they  resolved  to  be  at 


THE  SAVIOUR'S  RETURN.  315 

the  place  of  landing  in  season  to  welcome  him;  and 
when  he  came,  they  received  him  with  rejoicing. 

This  incident  is  full  of  instruction  and  encourage- 
ment, and  was  doubtless  recorded  for  our  learning 
on  whom  the  ends  of  the  world  are  come.  Let  us 
inquire  then  what  is  meant  by  waiting  for  Christ's 
return,  when  he  has  been  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time 
absent. 

1.  It  implies  desire.  When  we  wait  for  an  absent 
friend,  it  is  not  in  a  state  of  Indifference.  It  is  be- 
cause we  want  to  see  him,  and  want  to  enjoy  the 
pleasure  of  his  society.  So  it  was  with  that  waiting 
company  on  the  shore  of  the  lake.  They  would  not 
have  gathered  there,  much  less  would  they  have  wait- 
ed, if  they  had  not  wished  for  his  return.  Neither 
can  a  church,  that  once  enjoyed  the  special  presence 
of  Christ  in  a  revival,  be  said  to  be  waiting  for  a  like 
blessing,  if  they  do  not  earnestly  desire  his  return. 
Time  passes.  Years  perhaps  roll  away.  They  some- 
times talk  about  him,  and  profess,  it  may  be,  to  lament 
his  long  absence.  But  they  are  not  waiting  for  him, 
till  they  desire  his  return  so  earnestly  as  to  pray  for  it. 
Any  thing  short  of  this  is  not  waiting  for  him. 

2.  Waiting  for  Christ  implies  hope  and  expectation. 
Thus  when  you  are  waiting  for  a  valued  friend  who 
has  been  some  time  absent,  you  have  some  expectation 
at  least  that  he  will  come,  though  you  do  not  cer- 
tainly know  when  ;  else  you  would  not  wait  for  him : 
you  could  not ;  you  would  have  no  motive  to  wait  any 
longer,  however  anxious  you  might  be  to  meet  and 
welcome  him.  Neither  could  a  church  in  a  time  of 
o^eneral  declension  be  said  to  wait  for  the  Saviour's 


316  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

return,  if  tliey  had  no  encouragement  to  expect  it. 
It  is  not  in  the  constitution  of  the  human  mind,  sanc- 
tified or  unsanctified,  to  wait  for  any  thing  without 
hope  or  expectation.  The  multitude  would  not  have 
stood  on  the  shore  of  Galilee,  anxiously  looking  across 
the  water  to  catch  the  first  glimpse  of  the  boat,  if  they 
had  not  expected  it.  They  would  have  gone  away, 
or  rather,  they  would  not  have  come. 

3.  Waiting  for  Christ  to  come  and  revive  his 
work,  implies  a  preparation  in  the  church  to  receive 
him.  When  he  came  back  from  his  mission  across 
the  lake,  the  people  "gladly  received  him."  They 
were  ready  to  listen  to  his  instruction,  and  witness 
his  wonderful  works.  This  was  what  they  came 
together  for.  They  did  not  remain  at  home  till  they 
heard  that  he  had  landed,  but  went  down  to  meet  and 
welcome  him.  This  was  their  preparation.  This 
was  the  proof  that  they  were  anxiously  waiting  for 
him. 

And  how  do  you  do  when  you  are  expecting  a 
visit  from  a  dear  friend,  or  when  you  are  looking  for 
some  distinguished  guest,  and  do  not  know  at  what 
time  he  will  come,  whether  to-day  or  to-morrow? 
You  don't  put  off  your  preparations  till  the  coach 
drives  up  to  the  door.  You  consider  beforehand 
what  kind  of  reception  he  will  reasonably  expect,  and 
do  your  best  to  prepare  for  it.  You  would  not,  when 
you  met  him,  say,  "  I  am  very  glad  to  see  you,  I  have 
been  expecting  and  waiting  for  you  a  long  time,'^ 
when  you  had  got  nothing  ready  to  make  him  wel- 
come and  comfortable.  There  may  be  delay,  but 
there  is  no  real  waitincr  like  that  which  we  are  now 


THE  SAVIOUR'S  RETURN.  317 

considering,  which  does  not  include  these  three  things 
at  least — desire,  expectation,  and  some  good  degree  of 
'preparation  for  the  desired  visit  or  blessing. 

And  now,  dear  brethren,  how  is  it  with  you  ?  How 
is  it  with  your  church?  Much  as  we  read  and  hear 
of  revivals,  and  however  so  many  of  them  there  may 
be  in  the  land,  hundreds,  yea,  thousands  of  churches 
remain  unvisited,  and  yours  may  be  one  of  the  num- 
ber. How  long  is  it  then  since  the  Saviour  made 
you  his  last  visit?  How  many  years  since  he  was 
with  you,  calling  sinners  to  repentance,  and  making 
them  "  willing  in  the  day  of  his  power  ?"  How  long 
has  he  been  gone,  and  you  mourned  his  absence? 
Are  you  waiting  for  him  to  return,  as  the  people  were 
at  the  lake  of  Galilee?  Do  you  earnestly  desire  him 
to  come  to  you  speedily  ?  Does  this  desire  ascend  up 
to  his  mercy-seat  in  earnest,  persevering  prayer  ?  Do 
you  expect  him  ?  You  may,  if  you  ask  aright ;  for  his 
ear  is  always  open,  and  he  has  bound  himself  by 
great  and  precious  promises.  Have  you  not  been 
long  in  a  state  so  cold  and  indifferent  as  almost,  if 
not  quite,  to  give  up  the  hope  that  he  will  ever  return  ; 
and  have  you  not  very  much  given  over  asking  him  ? 

The  people  of  Galilee  received  him  joyfully,  be- 
cause they  were  waiting  for  him,  and  prepared  for 
his  return.  Are  you,  I  ask  again,  looking  anxiously 
out  for  him?  If  he  were  to  return,  are  you  prepared 
to  welcome  him  into  your  houses,  and  into  your 
hearts  ?  Would  he  find  you  waking,  and  looking  out 
for  his  return ;  or  would  he  find  you  saying,  "  A  little 
more  sleep,  a  little  more  slumber,  a  little  more  fold- 
ing of  the  hands  to  sleep?" 


318  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

Oh,  brethren,  brethren,  this  will  not  do  I  "  It  is 
high  time  to  wake  out  of  sleep."  Souls  are  perish- 
ing, and  you  are  answerable.  Christ  would  ere  this 
have  been  with  you,  reviving  his  work,  if  you  had 
been  waiting  for  him.  Whose  urgent  voice  is  it  but 
his,  that  I  seem  to  hear  at  your  very  threshold,  "  Be- 
hold, I  stand  at  the  door,  and  knock.  If  any  man  hear 
my  voice,  and  open  the  door,  I  will  come  in  unto  him, 
and  sup  with  him,  and  he  with  me."  And  if  he  will 
come  to  one  who  is  waiting  for  him,  how  much  more 
if  he  finds  all  his  friends  waiting  as  he  did  on  the 
shore  of  Galilee? 

♦'COME  DOWN  ERE  MY  CHILD  DIE." 

Jesus  Christ  was  a  great  physician.  He  was  so 
regarded  by  the  Jews  at  Nazareth,  where  he  was 
brought  up.  "  Ye  will  surely  say  unto  me  this  prov- 
erb, Physician,  heal  thyself."  They  had  heard  of  the 
wonderful  cures  which  he  wrought  in  Capernaum, 
and  reproached  him  for  not  doing  the  same  among 
them,  when  they  were  so  far  from  receiving  and  lis- 
tening to  him  even  with  common  civility,  that  they 
thrust  him  out  of  the  city,  and  sought  to  cast  him 
down  headlong  from  the  brow  of  the  hill  on  which 
it  was  built.  Why  should  he  heal  their  sick  when 
they  would  not  even  allow  him  to  remain  another 
day  or  hour  among  them? 

He  was  a  physician  of  the  bodies  as  well  as  the 
souls  of  men.  Of  this  we  have  the  most  abundant 
testimony  in  the  gospels.  We  have  reason  to  believe 
he  wrought  more  bodily  cures  than  any  other  physi- 
cian ever  did,  or  ever  will.    Take  the  following  as 


COME  DOWN  ERE  MY  CHILD  DIE.  319 

examples:  "At  even,  when  tlie  sun  did  set,  they 
brought  unto  him  all  that  were  diseased,  and  them 
that  were  possessed  with  devils ;  and  all  the  city  was 
gathered  at  the  door.  And  he  healed  many  that 
were  sick  of  divers  diseases,  and  cast  out  many  dev- 
ils." This  was  done  at  Capernaum.  Mark  1  :  32-34. 
"  And  Jesus  went  up  into  a  mountain,  and  sat  down 
there,"  near  the  sea  of  Galilee,  "  and  great  multitudes 
came  unto  him,  having  with  them  those  that  were 
lame,  blind,  dumb,  maimed,  and  many  others,  and  cast 
them  down  at  Jesus'  feet,  and  he  healed  them."  Matt. 
15:29.  "And  Jesus  went  about  all  Galilee,  teach- 
ing in  their  synagogues,  and  preaching  the  gospel  of 
the  kingdom,  and  healing  all  manner  of  sickness,  and 
all  manner  of  disease  among  the  people."  Matt. 
4  :  23,  24.  He  was  not  the  physician  of  any  one  city 
or  place  merely.  He  went  about  doing  good.  He 
travelled  all  over  the  land.  He  visited  and  healed 
the  sick  wherever  he  was  sent  for,  and  he  never  lost 
a  patient.  Nor  did  he  confine  his  cures  to  the  sick 
of  his  own  country  :  "  His  fame  went  throughout  all 
Syria,  and  they  brought  unto  him  all  sick  people,  that 
were  taken  with  divers  diseases  and  torments ;  and 
those  which  were  possessed  with  devils,  and  those 
which  were  lunatic,  and  those  that  had  the  palsy,  and 
he  healed  them."  What  multitudes  must  he  have 
cured  of  all  sorts  of  diseases,  during  the  three  and  a 
half  years  of  his  public  ministry,  wherever  he  went. 
A  number  of  affecting  incidents  are  recorded,  of 
which  this  is  one :  "  ^  certain  nobleman's  son  was 
sick  at  Capernaum.  When  he  heard  that  Jesus  was 
come  out  of  Judea  into  Galilee,  he  went  unto  him, 


320  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

and  besought  him  that  he  would  come  down  and  heal 
his  son,  for  he  was  at  the  point  of  death.  Then  said 
Jesus  unto  him,  Except  ye  see  signs  and  wonders,  ye 
will  not  believe.  The  nobleman  saith  unto  him.  Come 
down  ere  my  child  die."  And  Jesus  would  doubt- 
less have  gone  down  at  once,  had  not  the  nobleman's 
faith  prevented.  "  G-o  thy  way,"  saith  he,  "  thy  son 
liveth."  The  man  believed  the  word  and  went  his 
way,  and  that  very  hour  the  child  began  to  amend. 

Jesus  no  longer  visits  the  sick,  or  cures  diseases 
by  his  visible  bodily  presence  ;  but  there  are  now,  as 
there  were  then,  diseases  of  the  soul  far  more  malig- 
nant and  alarming,  and  we  have,  if  possible,  still 
greater  encouragement  to  apply  to  him  for  healing. 

Suppose  there  was  now  a  terrible  epidemic  raging 
all  over  the  land,  and  sweeping  off  thousands  every 
week,  and  so  malignant  as  thus  far  to  baffle  all  the 
skill  of  the  best  physicians.  And  suppose  that  in  this 
state  of  universal  gloom  and  despair,  we  should  learn 
that  a  physician  had  just  come  fi^om  afar  into  the 
very  next  town,  and  had  already  effected  many  won- 
derful cures  in  cases  of  the  greatest  extremity;  in 
fact,  curing  all  as  soon  and  as  fast  as  they  applied  to 
him,  and  that  he  was  just  as  much  needed  with  us  as 
with  them;  what  would  you  do?  Would  you  not 
send  for  him  at  once,  urging  him  by  every  possible 
motive  to  come,  and  give  you  too  the  benefits  of  his 
skill  ?  If  the  first  application  did  not  prevail,  would 
you  not  dispatch  messenger  after  messenger,  urging 
him  with  increasing  importunity,  "  Come  down  ere 
we  all  die?"  I  am  sure  you  would,  and  so  would  all 
in  like  circumstances,  who  should  hear  of  his  wonder- 


COME  DOWN  ERE  MY  CHILD  DIE.  321 

ful  success.  You  would  give  him  no  rest  as  long  as 
there  was  a  possibility  of  persuading  him  to  come. 
You  could  not  stand  and  see  your  children  die,  till 
the  last  effort  to  save  them  had  failed.  And  if  it  be- 
came known  that  he  had  already  visited  many  other 
places,  with  unfailing  success,  and  had  never  given  a 
refusal  when  suitably  applied  to — if  by  any  unaccount- 
able infatuation  you  had  delayed  sending  for  him  till 
he  was  gone,  leaving  the  pestilence  still  to  sweep 
on,  would  not  all  who  should  hear  of  it  say,  "They 
have  no  one  to  blame  but  themselves.  They  are  per- 
ishing by  their  own  neglect.  The  physician  was  near 
and  ready  to  come,  but  he  was  not  invited."  I  know 
that  such  a  case  can  never  happen.  But  it  strikingly 
suggests  a  familiar  analogy,  which  must  be  still  more 
astonishing  to  the  angels  than  that  would  be. 

Jesus  Christ,  the  great  Physician,  is  present  by 
his  Spirit,  wherever  there  is  a  revival  of  religion. 
Many  such  gracious  visits  he  is  now  making,  in 
almost  every  part  of  the  land.  He  is  doing  his 
mighty  works  in  healing  multitudes  who  were  ready 
to  perish.  But  the  number  of  places  yet  unvisited  is 
far  greater — places  where  there  are  no  revivals. 
Yours  may  be  one  of  them,  and  the  great  Physician 
may  have  come  into  your  immediate  neighborhood, 
where  souls  were  perishing,  and  where  he  is  now 
plucking  them  as  brands  from  the  burning.  Certain- 
ly he  is  not  so  far  off,  but  that  you  can  apply  to  him 
without  the  least  delay.  Some  of  you  hope,  that  in 
some  former  visit,  years  ago,  when  he  found  you  at 
the  point  of  death,  he  applied  the  balm  of  Gilead  and 
saved  you.     But  in  looking  round  over  your  families 


322  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

and  neigliborhoodS;  you  see  that  himdreds,  it  may  be 
thousands,  are  in  the  same  danger  that  you  were  in, 
and  you  know  that  they  must  perish  for  ever,  if  not 
healed  in  like  manner.  It  is  a  case  of  life  and  death 
with  every  one  of  them — not  of  temporal,  but  of  eter- 
nal death. 

And  what  are  you  doing  ?  You  cannot  save  them. 
None  of  your  physicians  can  reach  their  case.  It  is 
desperate  beyond  all  human  help.  But  there  is  the 
almighty  Physician,  perhaps  within  an  hour's  ride, 
multiplying  his  spiritual  cures,  and  waiting  to  be  in- 
vited by  you  with  the  same  earnestness  which  brought 
him  there.  You  "  stand  between  the  living  and  the 
dead ;"  and  let  me  affectionately  ask,  What  are  you 
doing?  Why  are  you  not  enjoying  the  blessings  of  a 
revival,  as  well  as  your  neighbors — as  well  as  any 
other  church  and  congregation  in  the  land  ?  God  is 
no  respecter  of  persons,  or  of  places.  It  cannot  be 
owing  to  any  reluctance  to  come,  on  the  part  of  the 
great  Physician,  that  he  has  passed  you  by.  Nothing 
is  wanting  but  preparation  of  heart,  and  earnest,  be- 
lieving prayer,  to  bring  him  to  you.  He  wants  to 
come.  He  is  only  waiting  for  you  to  ask  aright,  and 
he  will  come.  As  he  never  refused  when  he  was  per- 
sonally going  about  doing  good  to  the  bodies  and 
souls  of  men,  so  now  it  shall  never  be  said  to  those 
who  seek  him,  that  they  seek  in  vain.  If  there  was 
a  mortal  sickness  threatening  to  sweep  off  not  more 
than  one-tenth  of  your  population,  and  you  heard  of 
a  physician  anywhere  within  reach,  who  was  perform- 
ing more  cures  of  the  same  disease  than  all  others  to 
whom  you  could  apply,  though  he  might  have  lost 


PREACHING.  323 

some  patients,  you  would  lose  no  time,  you  would 
spare  no  expense  to  bring  him  to  the  bedside  of  your 
sick  friends.  And  now,  will  you,  can  you  do  less, 
when  the  great  majority  are  infected  with  the  heart- 
plague,  which  no  medicine  can  arrest ;  when  there  is 
One  of  infinitely  more  than  mortal  skill,  who  stands 
ready  to  come  and  cure  all,  without  money  and  with- 
out price?  If  you  have  no  revival  and  they  perish, 
consider,  0  ye  professed  friends  of  Christ,  in  whose 
skirts  their  blood  will  be  found.  Dare  you  slumber 
on  and  meet  the  answer  in  the  great  day?  Can  you 
give  one  blameless  reason  why  you  are  not  now  en- 
joying a  revival  as  well  as  other  churches  and  con- 
gregations ? 

PREACHING. 

Preaching  is  the  chief  instrumentality  by  which 
the  way  of  the  Lord  is  prepared,  when  religion  has 
sunk  to  a  low  ebb,  and  he  is  about  to  revive  his  work. 
The  first  thing  is  that  the  church  be  awakened  from 
its  slumbers.  Till  this  is  done,  there  is  very  little 
hope  that  sinners  will  be  awakened  ;  and  it  requires 
an  earnestness  in  the  pulpit,  a  directness  of  appeal,  a 
sounding  of  alarm  to  professors,  which  shall  make 
their  ears  tingle.  They  must  be  dealt  with  plainly, 
as  standing  in  the  way  of  a  revival,  as  stumbling- 
blocks  lying  in  the  path,  instead  of  living  witnesses 
for  Christ  before  the  world.  The  guilt  as  well  as 
the  danger  of  their  backslidings  must  be  faithfully 
pointed  out.  They  must  be  earnestly  exhorted  to 
"repent  and  do  their  first  works;"  to  examine  them- 
selves whether  they  are  in  the  faith,  whether  their 


324  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

own  hopes  are  well  founded,  whether  remaining  as 
they  are,  they  can  have  any  good  evidence  that  they 
are  not  yet  in  their  sins.  They  must  be  told  plainly 
that  there  are  false  professors  in  the  churches,  and 
they  must  be  exhorted  to  wake  and  rise  from  the 
dead,  that  Christ  may  give  them  life.  They  must  be 
shown  that  they  are  in  a  fearful  degree  answerable 
for  the  reigning  worldliness  and  spiritual  death 
around  them.  In  dealing  with  them,  the  preacher 
must  use  the  word  of  God,  which  is  sharper  than  a 
two-edged  sword,  as  the  surgeon  uses  his  knife,  though 
it  cut  deep  into  the  quick.  It  may  lead  some  real 
Christians  for  a  time  to  distrust  and  renounce  their 
hope.  It  probably  will,  but  it  will  do  them  good  in 
the  end,  by  making  them  more  watchful  and  prayer- 
ful and  faithful  to  their  covenant  vows.  Under  such 
a  course  of  preaching,  it  may  be  hoped  that  the  wise 
virgins  will  be  startled  from  their  slumber,  and  that 
'fearfulness  will  surprise  the  hypocrites.'  It  may 
require  more  than  one  sermon,  or  two.  It  probably 
will.  How  many,  no  minister  can  tell  till  he  has 
made  the  trial  and  witnessed  the  effect.  Let  him 
not  give  over  till  he  has  made  full  proof — "  line  upon 
line,  precept  upon  precept."  He  must  expect  that 
many  of  his  hearers  will  wonder  why  he  should  dwell 
so  much  upon  one  topic,  and  it  will  not  be  strange  if 
some  of  his  best  members  should  feel  that  he  bears 
too  hard  upon  them,  though  they  may  not  tell  him  so. 
But  if  his  searching-  appeals  sink  down  in  their  hearts 
and  rouse  them  to  prayer  and  action,  and  Glod  pours 
out  his  Spirit,  they  will  be  thankful  that  the  preacher 
did  not  let  them  alone  till,  by  the  grace  of  God,  they 


PREACHING.  326 

were  constrained  to  rise  and  shake  themselves  from 
the  dust. 

Said  one  of  the  most  pious  deacons  of  my  church, 
after  a  glorious  revival  which  brought  in  nearly  all 
the  most  influential  men  in  the  place,  "I  wondered, 
before  the  work  commenced,  why  you  preached  so 
long  and  pointedly  to  the  church.  I  knew  we  were 
in  a  cold  state,  and  needed  to  be  waked  up,  but  at 
the  time  it  seemed  almost  cruel  in  you  to  lay  the 
blame  of  our  never  having  had  a  general  revival  so 
heavily  upon  the  church;  I  now  see  that  we  need- 
ed it,  and  bless  God,  that  he  moved  you  to  deal 
so  faithfully  with  us,  both  in  the  pulpit  and  out  of 
it."  Some  others  had  the  same  hard  thoughts,  and 
were  led  to  change  their  minds  in  the  same  way,  after 
they  had  seen  and  rejoiced  in  the  salvation  of  God. 
If  we  had  all  the  facts,  I  believe  it  would  be  found 
that  nearly  all  of  the  most  powerful  revivals  have 
been  immediately  preceded  by  a  loud  and  earnest 
sounding  of  alarm  in  the  ears  of  the  churches.  How 
can  any  pastor  of  a  dead  church,  who  "travails 
in  birth"  for  souls,  rest  satisfied  till,  relying  on 
Divine  aid,  he  has  faithfully  made  the  attempt  ?  Nor 
should  it  be  confined  to  the  pulpit.  The  subject  should 
be  kept  before  the  mind  of  the  church  at  weekly  lec- 
tures and  prayer-meetings,  and  in  private  exhorta- 
tions, till  it  shall  be  evident  that  she  is  in  some  good 
degree  prepared  to  receive  a  blessing.  As  soon  as 
that  shall  be  the  case,  the  prayer  will  go  up  from 
many  lips,  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  us  to  do  ? 

When  a  church  is  brought  to  this  point,  there  is 
every  reason  to  hope  that  God  is  about  to  revive  his 


326  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

work  in  the  congregation.  And  then  the  way  is  pre- 
pared for  a  series  of  pointed  and  rousing  discourses 
to  the  impenitent.  Then  is  the  time  for  the  preacher 
to  wield  "  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,"  to  lift  up  his  voice 
like  a  trumpet,  to  cry  aloud  and  not  spare.  Just 
here,  the  first  thing  to  be  aimed  at  is  to  gain  the 
sinner's  attention.  Failing  in  this,  though  an  angel 
were  to  come  down  from  heaven  and  occupy  the 
pulpit,  his  preaching  would  avail  nothing.  It  would 
do  no  more  good  than  speaking  into  the  cold  ear 
of  death.  The  careless  sinner  must  somehow  be  influ- 
enced to  "  think  on  his  ways,"  to  consider  what  his 
actual  condition  is,  what  his  relations  to  God  are, 
what  the  law  requires,  what  the  gospel  offers,  and 
what  must  be  the  inevitable  consequences  of  his  liv- 
ing as  he  has  done,  and  dying  in  his  present  state. 
I  say  you  must  first  gain  his  serious  attention,  before 
you  can  hope  that  your  preaching  will  do  him  good. 
And  how  is  he  to  be  awakened  ?  "  Not  by  might,  nor 
by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord."  Never- 
theless, it  hath  "pleased  God  by  the  foolishness  of 
preaching,"  as  the  Greeks  stigmatized  it,  to  awaken 
sinners  as  well  as  to  save  them. 

And  in  such  a  state  of  things,  when  a  cloud  of 
mercy  has  come  over  a  place,  what  kind  of  preaching 
is  wanted?  What  texts  and  subjects  are  best  adapted 
to  wake  the  slumbering,  and  constrain  them  to  flee 
from  the  wrath  to  come?  Not  such  preaching  as  a 
backsliding  church  needs,  not  such  as  young  converts 
want,  but  a  series  of  discourses  upon  such  topics  as 
these :  the  entire  sinfulness  of  the  human  heart  in  the 
sight  of  a  holy  God;  the  strictness  and  righteous 


PREACHING.  32t 

penalty  of  his  law ;  the  certainty  that  it  will  be  in- 
flicted in  the  awful  and  endless  punishment  of  all  who 
die  impenitent — leading  sinners  to  despair  of  obtain- 
ing salvation  by  the  merit  of  their  own  works,  or  by 
their  own  unaided  strivings,  be  they  ever  so  earnest ; 
stripping  them  of  all  their  vain  excuses,  driving  them 
from  all  their  refuges  of  lies,  and  pointing  them  to 
the  cross  of  Christ  as  their  only  refuge. 

Many  of  the  most  successful  preachers  in  winning 
souls  to  Christ  have  dwelt  much  and  earnestly  upon 
these  preparatory  topics,  as  I  venture  to  call  them, 
in  the  commencement  of  revivals.  They  are  needed, 
they  come  at  the  right  time.  This  is  the  proper  place 
for  them  in  the  use  of  the  means  which  God  has  ap- 
pointed, and  I  see  not  how  any  minister  can  hope  for 
a  thorough  work  of  the  Lord  in  the  conversion  of  sin- 
ners, who  does  not  thus  begin  at  the  beginning,  who 
does  not  show  them  the  desperate  wickedness  of  their 
hearts,  who  does  not  make  the  law  thunder  in  their 
ears,  and  uncover  the  pit  of  destruction  before  them. 
This  is  what  Whitefield  did;  this  is  what  Wesley 
did ;  this  is  what  Edwards  did ;  this  is  what  Bel- 
lamy, and  the  Tennent's  did ;  this  is  what  all  the  most 
successful  laborers  in  revivals  have  done  since  their 
day ;  and  I  hazard  nothing  in  saying,  that  the  work 
has  been  deep  and  thorough  in  proportion  to  the 
thoroughness  of  the  preaching  in  its  earlier  stages. 
Sinners  must  be  "  shut  up  to  the  faith  "  by  the  flam- 
ing sword  turning  every  way,  before  they  will  despair 
of  help  from  any  but  an  almighty  arm.  No  man, 
however  critical  his  case  may  be,  will  send  for  a 
physician  till  he  believes  he  is  sick,  and  then  the 


328  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

more  critical  he  regards  his  condition,  the  more  ready 
will  he  be  to  use  the  remedies  which  the  best  medical 
skill  can  prescribe.  So  with  the  sinner ;  he  is  sick 
unto  death,  but  he  will  never  apply  to  the  great  Phy- 
sician till  he  feels  that  the  case  is  desperate.  The 
first  thing  is  to  bring  him  to  feel  this,  and  to  cry  out 
for  help.  There  must  be  no  palliations.  His  heart 
must  be  probed  to  the  bottom,  and  its  corruption  laid 
bare,  so  that-  he  may  loathe  himself  in  his  own  sight, 
and  smite  upon  his  breast  and  cry  out  with  the  pub- 
lican, "  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner." 

In  laying  so  much  stress  as  I  have  done  upon  hold- 
ing up  the  terrors  of  the  law  in  the  beginning  of  a 
revival,  and  dwelling  mostly  for  some  time  upon  the 
guilt  and  danger  of  impenitence,  I  do  not  mean  that 
the  way  of  escape  from  the  wrath  to  come  should  be 
kept  out  of  sight  even  then.  The  voice  of  mercy 
from  Calvary  should  be  heard  in  the  midst  of  the 
loudest  threatenings  from  Sinai.  But  Sinai  must  utter 
its  thunders.  The  careless  multitude  must  be  alarmed, 
so  as  to  cry  out  for  help,  before  they  will  be  ready 
to  receive  it.  While  here  and  there  the  Lord  opens 
the  heart  of  a  Lydia  at  once  to  receive  with  joy  the 
good  news  of  salvation,  this  has  not  been  his  ordinary 
method.  In  the  language  of  the  old  divines,  there 
must  be  "  law  work  "  to  bring  sinners  to  Christ.  The 
experience  of  Paul  in  this  regard,  has  been  the  ex- 
perience of  multitudes  who  have  been  converted  in 
revivals :  "  I  was  alive  without  the  law  once ;  but 
when  the  commandment  came,  sin  revived,  and  I 
died." 


THE  PASTOR  IN  A  REVIVAL.  329 

THE  PASTOR  IN  A  REVIVAL. 

These  thiogs  being  premised,  I  will  suppose,  my 
young  brother  in  the  ministry,  that  you  and  your 
church  are  now  in  the  midst  of  a  revival.  Some  are 
asking  what  they  must  do  to  be  saved,  and  others  are 
beginning  to  rejoice  in  hope.  It  is  a  critical  time 
with  them,  and  under  God  much  may  depend  upon  the 
means  employed.  The  revival  may  pervade  the  con- 
gregation and  bring  many  into  the  kingdom  of  Christ, 
or  it  may  be  checked  at  once.  Perhaps  there  never 
was  a  revival  so  powerful,  but  that,  to  all  human 
view,  the  Spirit  might  have  been  quenched,  as  many 
have  been  suddenly  brought  to  a  stand  by  unwise  and 
indiscreet  proceedings. 

I  do  not  profess  to  have  had  very  large  experi- 
ence. Many  have  oftener  seen  the  salvation  of  God 
in  these  blessed  times  of  refreshing  than  I  have,  and 
are  more  capable  of  giving  advice  to  the  inexperi- 
enced; but  it  has  pleased  God  to  afford  me  a  good 
many  precious  opportunities  of  witnessing  the  pres- 
ence and  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  the  conviction 
and  conversion  of  sinners. 

In  the  thoughts  which  I  have  to  throw  out,  and 
the  advice  which  I  have  to  offer,  I  shall  give  the 
results  of  my  own  observation  and  inquiries,  without 
claiming  any  right  to  mark  out  a  course  for  others. 
God  has  not  shut  up  his  ministers  and  churches  to 
any  one  method.  A  considerable  range  is  left  for  the 
choice  of  means  according  to  times  and  circumstances. 
In  reading  a  hundred  narratives,  we  might  not  find 
the  same  features  and  stages  of  progress  in  any  two 
of  them.     As  there  are  diversities  of  operation  by  the 


330  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

same  Spirit,  so  there  are  diversities  of  means  and 
agencies,  which  God  is  pleased  to  own  and  bless  in 
reviving  his  work.  Our  part  is  to  pray.  Lord,  what 
wilt  thou  have  us  to  do  ?  and  then  to  follow  the  lead- 
ings of  his  providence  and  Spirit. 

It  will  sometimes  be  found,  before  the  work  has 
advanced  far,  that  something  lies  in  the  way  of  its 
progress.  It  seems  to  stand  still.  Those  who  have 
been  awakened,  remain  for  days  just  about  where 
they  were;  and  there  are  no  new  inquirers.  This 
ought  to  alarm  the  whole  church.  What  is  the  mat- 
ter ?  What  hinders  the  chariot  of  salvation  from  roll- 
ing on  ?  There  should  be  great  searchings  of  heart ; 
and  if  we  could  see  the  hearts  of  those  who  have 
been  waiting  for  the  salvation  of  God  as  he  sees 
them,  it  would  probably  be  found  that  there  is  less 
fervent  prayer  than  there  was.  Christians  are  in 
danger  of  taking  it  for  granted,  as  it  were,  that  when 
God  has  begun  to  pour  out  his  Spirit  in  answer  to 
prayer,  he  will  continue  to  carry  on  the  good  work, 
though  they  should  neglect  this  great  duty  and  privi- 
lege. But  for  this  they  have  no  warrant.  Continu- 
ance in  prayer,  if  I  may  so  express  it,  is  the  motive 
power,  and  without  which  it  must  come  to  a  stand. 
But  however  this  may  be,  there  is  some  cause,  some 
letting  down,  some  neglect  of  duty  on  the  part  of 
the  church,  which  must  be  searched  out  and  repent- 
ed of. 

So,  again,  in  the  midst  of  a  powerful  revival,  when 
Christians  have  been  long  on  their  knees  with  their 
faces  bowed  in  the  dust,  the  impression  may  be 
stronger  than  ever,  that  God  not  only  can,  but  will 


THE  PASTOR  IN  A  REVIYAL.  331 

carry  on  his  work  and  glorify  himself,  though  their 
prayers  should  cease ;  or  that  their  supplications 
might  now  give  place  to  thanksgivings.  When  this, 
or  something  like  this  feeling  appears,  the  church 
should  be  called  together,  not  to  discourage  their 
thanksgivings  for  what  God  hath  wrought,  but  to 
exhort  them  at  the  same  time,  instead  of  relaxing,  to 
wrestle  more  earnestly  with  the  Angel  of  the  cove- 
nant. Indeed,  judging  from  what  I  have  witnessed 
in  revivals,  the  church  needs  to  be  often  called  to- 
gether by  the  pastor,  to  keep  them  constantly  advised 
of  the  progress  of  the  work,  and  of  the  hinderances 
which  threaten  to  retard  it.  Without  some  watch 
like  this,  suited  to  the  flowing  and  ebbing  of  the 
waters  of  salvation,  I  see  not  how  the  church  can  be 
expected  to  preserve  a  healthful  tone  of  prayer,  and 
a  vigorous  state  of  action. 

Again,  when  a  revival  has  lasted  for  months  per- 
haps, and  a  great  harvest  is  already  in  the  sheaf, 
Christians  are  apt  to  feel  that  it  is  as  large  as  can 
be  expected  in  one  season,  and  in  this  way  to  limit, 
as  it  were,  the  Holy  One  of  Israel.  From  what  I 
have  seen  in  revivals,  I  am  satisfied  that  this  is  a 
common  case.  The  impression  on  many  minds  is 
something  like  this :  The  blessing  has  already  been 
larger  than  we  could  have  hoped  for,  considering  our 
infinite  unworthiness,  and  we  regard  it  as  a  rich  ear- 
nest of  what  God  will  do  for  us,  when  he  shall  be 
pleased  to  come  and  revive  us  again;  but  we  must 
wait.  This  may  never  be  uttered,  but  such  is  the 
feeling — "We  must  wait  God's  time  for  the  conver- 
sion of  the  many  who  are  left."     In  this  way  I  fear 


332  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

Satan  often  gets  an  advantage  of  the  church,  which 
he  could  not  gain  in  any  other.  I  look  upon  it  as 
one  of  his  stratagems,  because  I  believe  he  is  never 
so  busy  as  in  revivals,  and  because  I  find  nothing  in 
the  Bible  to  warrant  the  impression  that  the  work  in 
progress  must  needs  cease,  so  long  as  there  are  sin- 
ners to  be  brought  in,  but  that,  "  contrary  wise,"  there 
is  much  encouragement  to  pray  and  work  on. 

When  the  prophet  Elisha  directed  the  king  of 
Israel  to  take  arrows  and  smite  upon  the  ground,  he 
smote  thrice  and  stayed.  Whereupon  the  prophet 
was  angry,  and  sharply  chided  him:  "Thou  should- 
est  have  smitten  five  or  six  times ;  then  hadst  thou 
smitten  Syria  till  thou  hadst  consumed  it;  whereas 
thou  shalt  now  smite  Syria  but  thrice."  Final  deliv- 
erance from  the  invasions  of  that  powerful  enemy  of 
Israel  was  forfeited  by  stopping  short  when  there  was 
nothing  to  hinder.  So  in  a  revival,  what  is  there 
but  the  want  of  faith  and  perseverance,  to  hinder  the 
conversion  of  all  who  are  brought  under  its  influence  ? 
A  hundred,  perhaps,  have  been  born  again.  It  is 
certainly  a  great  and  glorious  work  ;  but  why  should 
it  cease,  when  hundreds  are  still  impenitent  and  ready 
to  perish?  Is  the  Lord's  hand  shortened,  that  it  can- 
not save  any  more  ?  Is  his  ear  heavy,  that  he  cannot 
any  longer  hear?  Dear  brethren,  are  you  straitened 
in  him?  Is  it  not  wholly  in  your  own  bowels?  You 
say  you  desire  the  salvation  of  every  soul ;  and  if  so, 
why  not  still  use  the  means  that  have  been  so  signal- 
ly blessed  ?  Why  wait  for  another  revival  ?  If  you 
forfeit  your  privilege  in  this,  are  you  sure  that  you 
shall  ever  see  another?    And  if  another  should  be 


THE  PASTOR  IN  A  REVIVAL.  333 

enjoyed  in  a  few  years,  will  all  who  are  yet  uncon- 
verted live  till  that  time? 

You  will  say,  perhaps,  that  in  no  place  has  the 
whole  impenitent  population  ever  been  converted  in  a 
single  revival.  And  what  then?  Does  it  prove  that 
this  never  can  be?  that  it  never  will  be?  As  the 
millennium  approaches,  we  may  expect  to  see  greater 
things  than  have  yet  been  witnessed.  If  we  are 
warranted  to  pray  for  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  at 
all,  we  have  the  same  warrant  to  pray  for  the  con- 
version of  many  as  for  few.  As  there  is  no  respect 
of  persons  with  God,  so  there  is  no  limitation  to  the 
promises,  "Ask,  and  ye  shall  receive;'*'  "Open  your 
mouth  wide,  and  I  will  fill  it ;"  "  If  ye  shall  ask  any 
thing  in  my  name,  I  will  do  it " — "  any  thing.^' 
"  How  large  the  promise,  how  divine ! " 

It  would  certainly  be  very  remarkable  if  God 
were  to  convert  all  in  a  great  revival.  But  that  he 
can,  if  he  pleases,  no  praying  person  can  doubt. 
There  seems  to  have  been  something  very  much  like 
it,  in  the  apostolic  age.  Thus  we  read,  that  when 
Peter  passed  throughout  all  quarters,  "  all  that  dwelt 
in  Lydda  and  Saron  turned  unto  the  Lord.''  And 
in  our  own  times,  we  have  heard  of  revivals,  if  we 
have  not  witnessed  them,  in  some  of  our  higher 
seminaries,  of  the  same  comprehensiveness.  So  it  is 
not  very  uncommon  for  whole  families  to  be  taken  at 
once.  Dear  brethren,  "be  not  faithless,  but  believ- 
ing." Pray  without  ceasing.  Do  not  let  the  Angel 
of  the  covenant  go  till  you  have  prevailed  for  the 
largest  blessings  which  he  has  to  bestow.  The  fact 
that  you  have  already  seen  the  salvation  of  God  be- 


834  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

yond  all  that  you  dared  to  hope  for,  that  greater 
nmnbers,  it  may  be,  have  been  converted  than  in  any 
former  revival,  is  so  far  from  affording  any  reason 
for  relaxing  in  prayer  and  efforts  for  the  immediate 
conversion  of  those  who  are  left,  that  the  larger  the 
gift  received,  the  greater  the  encouragement  to  ask 
for  more. 

It  were  easy  to  bring  many  illustrations  bearing 
on  the  point  that  the  church  ought  never  to  be  satis- 
fied so  long  as  any  remain  outside  of  the  ark,  hourly 
exposed  to  be  swallowed  up  by  the  rising  deluge. 

If  your  neighbor's  house  was  on  fire,  and  the  fam- 
ily were  all  fast  asleep,  or  if  they  had  been  waked  in 
time  to  escape,  and  some  of  them  had  been  already 
rescued  from  the  flames  while  others  were  still  left, 
what  would  you  do?  Would  you  say,  we  have  al- 
ready saved  more  than  we  expected,  and  so  relax 
your  efforts  to  save  the  rest  ?  No.  You  would  if 
possible  increase  them,  and  never  give  over  till  the 
last  child  was  snatched  from  the  devouring  element. 
And  will  you  cease  to  pray  for  those  who  are  still 
exposed  to  everlasting  fire,  because  so  many  have 
been  plucked  as  brands  from  the  burning? 

In  a  terrible  storm,  such  as  often  happens  on  our 
seaboard,  a  vessel  is  driven  upon  the  breakers,  and 
becomes  a  hopeless  wreck.  The  crew  and  the  pas- 
sengers are  seen  from  the  shore  clinging  to  the 
shrouds,  and  ready  to  be  swallowed  up.  What  is 
to  be  done  ?  The  life-boat  is  launched.  Struggling 
through  the  roaring  surf,  and  almost  swamped,  she 
reaches  the  wreck.  There  are  a  hundred  to  be  saved, 
and  she  can  take  only  ten.     Again  and  again  she 


THE  PASTOR  IN  A  REVIVAL.  335 

returns,  till  more  than  half  the  number  are  landed 
safe  on  the  shore.  But  what  is  to  become  of  the 
rest?  Will  the  hardy  boatmen  say,  "We  have  saved 
many  more  than  we  expected  when  we  saw  the  dan- 
ger. The  winds  and  waves  are  more  and  more  appall- 
ing. It  is  night-fall,  which  increases  the  danger  of 
further  efforts.  We  will  go  home,  thankful  for  what 
we  have  been  able  to  do,  and  return  early  in  the 
morning,  hoping  to  find  the  sea  calmer,  and  then  we 
will  bring  the  rest  ashore."  Impossible!  It  would 
not  be  safe  for  any  man  to  hint  such  inhumanity  to 
the  most  hardened  sailor.  And  can  you,  dear  Chris- 
tian friends,  sit  down  and  rest  satisfied  for  the  pres- 
ent with  the  rescue  of  less  than  half  of  your  friends 
and  neighbors  who  were  ready  to  perish,  when,  by 
your  own  acknowledgment,  those  who  are  left  are  in 
equal  danger? 

But  I  have  not  room  for  enlargement  here.  I  am 
not  so  vain  as  to  feel  sure  that  the  course  of  preach- 
ing which  I  have  sketched  and  recommended  before 
a  revival,  and  in  the  early  stages  of  it,  is  better  than 
some  other,  when  there  is  so  much  room  for  consult- 
ing times  and  circumstances.  What  I  have  said  is 
chiefly  drawn  from  my  own  experience  and  observa- 
tion in  revivals.  It  may  or  may  not  accord  with  the 
larger  experience  of  others.  Let  it  stand  upon  its 
own  merits,  nothing  more. 

It  can  hardly  be  necessary  to  add,  that  no  wise 
master-builder  will  indulge  the  idea  that  by  laboring 
for  a  revival  in  season  and  out  of  season,  and  bring- 
ing many  converts  into  the  church,  they  and  the  older 


336  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

members  will  need  little  more  of  his  help  to  "  build 
them  up  as  lively  stones,  a  spiritual  house,  a  holy 
priesthood,  to  offer  up  spiritual  sacrifices,  acceptable 
to  God  by  Jesus  Christ."  It  is  just  here,  if  I  mistake 
not,  that  some  excellent  pastors  are  in  danger  of  los- 
ing half  the  fruits  of  their  labors  in  sowing  and  reap- 
ing, and  shouting  the  harvest  home.  Believing  that 
all  who  are  born  again  will  be  kept  by  the  power  of 
God  through  faith  unto  salvation,  they  seem  to  for- 
get that  all  who  have  lately  been  converted,  however 
well  instructed  and  established  in  other  things,  are 
but  babes  in  Christ,  and  need  the  sincere  milk  of  the 
word,  that  they  may  grow  thereby  till  they  become 
strong  in  the  Lord  and  in  the  power  of  his  might. 

Those  more  especially  who,  till  the  revival,  and 
perhaps  till  it  was  far  advanced,  had  paid  no  attention 
to  religion,  and  are  brought  in  suddenly,  as  in  these 
days  many  are,  have  almost  every  thing  to  learn  of 
its  doctrines,  of  its  evidences,  and  of  its  claims.  Be- 
ing just  brought  into  the  school  of  Christ,  now  is  the 
time  to  teach  them,  till  they  are  rooted  and  grounded 
in  the  faith.  Now  they  will  learn  faster  than  at  any 
other  period  of  their  discipleship,  and  to  this  end 
they  will  require  more  teaching. 

Some  ministers,  in  their  great  zeal  for  the  imme- 
diate conversion  of  sinners,  think  it  their  duty  to 
preach  and  exhort  at  all  times  just  as  they  do  in  the 
midst  of  a  revival,  and  feel  as  if  they  were  doing  very 
little  good,  if  they  do  not  see  the  immediate  fruit  of 
their  labors  in  bringing  sinners  to  Christ.  Doubtless 
they  cannot  be  too  anxious  to  have  them  brought  in. 
But  they  have  work  to  do  in  the  church,  as  well  as 


THE  PASTOR  IN  A  REVIVAL.  331 

out  of  it.  By  pressing  too  hard  after  a  glorious  revi- 
val, and  without  giving  the  church  any  time  to  re- 
cover from  the  physical  and  mental  exhaustion  which 
is  likely  to  supervene,  they  are  in  danger  not  only  of 
increasing  the  exhaustion,  but  wearing  out  their  own 
remaining  strength  and  religious  susceptibilities  with 
little  or  no  profit.  Mr.  Nettleton  used  to  say,  that 
if  he  was  a  settled  pastor,  he  would  not  always  be 
preaching  what  would  be  distinctly  regarded  as  revi- 
val sermons,  as  it  might  disgust  and  harden  sinners, 
rather  than  convert  them;  and  I  believe  he  was 
right. 

Suppose  there  should  be  an  interval  of  even  four 
or  five  years  between  two  revivals,  would  the  pastor 
have  reason  to  mourn  that  he  was  all  that  time  labor- 
ing in  vain,  and  spending  his  strength  for  naught? 
By  no  means.  If  he  is  doing  the  work  of  the  Lord 
faithfully  during  that  interval,  he  may  be  eminently 
useful.  The  husbandman  is  not  always  employed  in 
gathering  in  his  harvests.  When  one  is  over,  he  pre- 
pares his  grounds  for  another.  He  sows  for  a  new 
crop,  though  he  may  not  expect  it  to  take  root  and 
spring  up  at  once.  So  the  spiritual  husbandman,  who 
"  goeth  forth  and  weepeth,  bearing  precious  seed,  shall 
doubtless  come  again  with  rejoicing,  bringing  his 
sheaves  with  him." 

The  interval  is  preeminently  the  time  for  study, 
for  imparting  solid  instruction,  for  preaching  all  the 
fundamental  doctrines,  for  convincing  and  confound- 
ing gainsayers,  and  for  building  up  a  stable,  thorough- 
ly educated  church,  upon  "  the  foundation  of  the  apos- 
tles and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief 

Rev.  Sketclies.  15 


338 


REVIVAL  MANUAL. 


corner-stone."  It  is  just  here  that  some  ardent  and 
excellent  ministers  mistake.  They  exhort  more  and 
better  than  they  teach.  When  there  is  no  revival, 
they  do  so  little  to  prepare  for  one  by  raising  the 
standard  of  piety  and  training  up  prominent  mem- 
bers for  active  service,  that  they  derive  not  half  the 
assistance  from  them  in  prayer-meetings,  Sabbath- 
schools,  and  by  other  lay  helpfulness,  that  they  nnght 
have  done  by  thorough  training.  And  owing  to  this 
neglect,  when  trouble  arises  they  have  not  half  so 
many  strong  men  to  lean  upon  as  they  might  have 

had.  , 

I  am  persuaded  that  a  pastor  will  be  most  and 
oftenest  blessed  with  genuine  revivals,  who,  relying 
upon  divine  aid,  does  most  to  prepare  his  church  for 
them  by  thorough  doctrinal  and  practical  preaching 
in  the  intervals.  He  will  have  a  stronger  and  purer 
church  than  it  is  possible  to  build  up  without  a  great 
deal  of  teaching,  as  well  after  the  converts  are  re- 
ceived into  the  church  as  before. 

WHERE  A  REVIVAL  HAS  JUST  COMMENCED. 

"  And  he  did  not  many  mighty  works  there,  be- 
cause of  their  unbelief.''  Jesus  Christ  had  come  to 
Nazareth,  and  showed  the  deep  interest  which  he  felt 
in  their  highest  welfare  by  teaching  m  their  syn- 
agogues, and  healing  a  few  of  their  sick.  From  what 
they  saw  and  heard,  they  could  not  dispute  that  his 
motives  were  kind,  that  he  had  both  the  will  and  the 
power  to  do  them  good.  But  they  were  not  ready 
to  receive  him.  He  had  been  brought  up  among 
them  as  the  son  of  a  poor  carpenter,  one  of  their 


REVIVAL  JUST  COMMENCED.  339 

neighbors.  Whence  then,  they  said,  hath  this  man 
this  wisdom,  and  these  mighty  works  ?  and  they  were 
offended  in  him.  He  was  to  them  as  "  a  root  out  of 
a  dry  ground ;"  he  had  "  no  form  nor  comeliness  "  in 
their  eyes ;  "  when  they  saw  him,  there  was  no  beauty 
that  they  should  desire  him."  He  had  already  by  his 
miraculous  power  healed  some  of  their  sick,  and  was 
ready  to  heal  them  all ;  but  no,  he  was  the  carpenter^ s 
son,  and  who  gave  him  this  power  ?  As  Jesus  Christ 
never  staid  where  he  was  not  wanted,  he  left  them, 
and  it  does  not  appear  that  he  ever  returned.  It  was 
not  their  unworthiness  that  cut  off  his  kindred  from 
the  blessings  which  he  had  to  bestow  without  money 
and  without  price ;  it  was  their  rejection  of  him. 
"  He  did  not  many  mighty  works  there,  because  of 
their  unbelief."  He  departed  out  of  their  coasts.  If 
any  whom  he  would  have  healed  were  mortally  sick, 
he  left  them  to  die. 

So  it  is  now  in  times  and  places  of  special  revival. 
Jesus  Christ  by  his  Spirit  comes  into  a  church  and 
congregation,  and  shows  his  presence  and  power  by 
healing  here  and  there  a  sin-sick  soul;  or  in  other 
words,  awakening  and  converting  a  few  individuals. 
In  this  beginning  of  miracles  of  grace,  he  manifests 
his  readiness  to  heal  all  who  apply  to  him,  trusting 
in  his  ability  and  readiness  to  save. 

Are  the  churches  whom  he  thus  condescends  to 
visit,  always  ready  to  welcome  him,  and  urge  him  to 
remain  with  them  as  long  as  he  can  ?  If  so,  w^hat  is 
the  reason  that  sometimes,  when  a  revival  has  com- 
menced and  there  have  been  a  few  conversions,  he 
departs  and  the  work  ceases?    Such  cases,  alas,  arc 


340  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

but  too  frequent.  Ah,  lie  does  not  do  many  mighty 
works  there,  "because  of  their  unbelief."  This  is  the 
sole  reason. 

What  then  is  this  unbelief,  that  cuts  them  oif  ?  It 
must  be  a  criminal  distrust  of  his  power,  or  his  prom- 
ises. Nothing  is  wanting  but  that  faith  which  takes 
hold  of  the  promises  by  earnest  persevering  prayer 
to  retain  him.  It  can  never  be  true,  that  any  in- 
cipient revival  ceases  after  a  very  few  have  been 
awakened  and  brought  in,  where  the  church  is  on 
her  knees  pleading  with  the  Saviour  to  stay  and  mul- 
tiply the  trophies  of  his  victorious  grace.  She  must 
take  the  blame  to  herself,  if  he  leaves  her  families 
and  neighbors  unconverted. 

And  now,  dear  friends,  what  is  our  present  con- 
dition in  this  place  ?  After  a  long  absence,  in  which 
the  ways  of  Zion  have  mourned,  and  all  have  been 
ready  to  die,  Jesus  of  Nazareth  has  returned,  and  be- 
gun his  mighty  works  among  us.  Here  and  there  a 
sinner  is  asking,  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?  A 
few,  we  hope,  have  been  born  again ;  but  what  are 
they  among  so  many?  Scores,  hundreds  lie  in  the 
same  perishing  condition.  What  will  you  do  ?  Will 
you  treat  him  as  his  town-people  did,  and  send  him 
away ;  or  will  you  constrain  him  by  your  prayers  to 
remain,  and  come  into  your  houses  and  visit  all  your 
neighborhoods,  and  cast  out  all  the  evil  spirits,  and 
heal  all  the  sick,  constraining  you  to  stand  still  and 
to  exclaim.  What  hath  God  wrought  I 

The  state  of  things  with  us  is  beyond  expression 
critical.  Now  Christ  has  come,  and  you  see  what  he 
can  do.     He  has  quickened  some  who  were  dead  in 


REVIVAL  JUST  COMMENCED.  341 

trespasses  and  sins.  But  the  work  seems  to  be  at  a 
stand,  and  where  is  our  faith?  There  are  but  few, 
if  any  new  cases  of  inquiry.  Things  cannot  long  re- 
main as  they  are.  It  is  an  awful  crisis.  The  revival 
must  receive  a  new  impulse,  or  soon  cease.  Mani- 
festly Christ  is  ready  to  depart,  and  shall  we  let  him 
go  while  so  much  remains  to  be  done;  while  of  all 
the  multitude  who  are  sick  unto  death,  only  here  and 
there  one  has  been  healed?  Shall  we  let  him  go? 
Let  us  fall  down  before  him,  and  plead  his  great  and 
precious  promises.  Would  he  have  visited  us  as  he 
has,  if  he  had  not  more  blessings  in  store,  and  was 
not  ready  to  bestow  them  ?  When  he  thus  visits  any 
place,  and  begins  to  do  his  mighty  works,  there  is 
one  obstacle  to  his  leaving  suddenly  which  he  never 
breaks  over,  and  that  is,  "  We  will  not  let  thee  go 
except  thou  bless  us."  Such  importunity  always  pre- 
vails. It  will  with  us,  if  we  wrestle  as  Jacob  did. 
Nothing  but  unbelief  can  stop  the  revival  where 
it  is. 

0  brethren,  will  you  grieve  the  Holy  Spirit  to 
depart ;  will  you  send  the  blessed  Saviour  away, 
leaving  so  many  to  perish  whom  he  is  ready  to  save? 
for  not  to  persuade  him  to  prolong  his  visit,  when  he 
is  waiting  to  be  gracious,  is  virtually  sending  him 
away.  "And  he  could  there  do  no  mighty  works, 
save  that  he  laid  his  hands  on  a  few  sick  folk,  and 
healed  them.  And  he  marvelled  at  their  unbelief." 
So  here,  if  he  departs,  he  will  leave  the  great  body 
of  the  sick,  with  the  most  terrible  of  all  diseases, 
"  drawn  unto  death."  How  many  have  we  reason  to 
fear  have  died  the  second  death  since  he  last  came 


342  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

among  us.  As  lie  never  went  back  to  Nazareth,  wlio 
can  tell,  if  lie  leaves  us  now,  whether  he  will  ever 
return  ?  And  if  he  should,  years  hence,  how  many 
of  those  whom  he  came  to  cure  will  then  be  in  their 
graves,  and  beyond  the  reach  of  salvation. 

Mr.  Nettleton,  writing  to  a  brother  in  the  minis- 
try in  1823,  says,  "A  revival  begim,  is  likely  to  sub- 
side without  the  constant  pressure  of  gospel  motives 
on  the  consciences  of  the  awakened.  It  is  obvious 
from  experience  that  God  generally  blesses  far  more 
extensively  the  means  for  extending  his  work,  than 
he  does  for  commencing  it  in  the  midst  of  surround- 
ing darkness.  As  the  conversion  of  one  sinner  is 
often  the  means  of  awakening  a  whole  family,  and  th^ 
impulse  is  again  felt  through  every  kindred  branch, 
and  through  the  village  and  town,  so  one  town  may 
be  the  means  of  revival  in  another,  and  that  in  an- 
other. There  is  as  really  a  season  of  harvest  in  the 
moral,  as  in  the  natural  world.  Neglected  a  few 
days,  the  harvest  fully  ripe  is  lost  for  ever. 

"  So  there  is  a  crisis  in  the  feelings  of  a  people, 
which,  if  not  improved,  the  souls  of  that  generation 
will  not  be  gathered.  In  the  season  of  a  revival, 
more  may  be  done,  more  often  is  done  to  secure  the 
salvation  of  souls  in  a  few  days  or  weeks,  than  in 
years  at  other  times.  One  sermon  often  does  more 
execution  in  a  revival  than  a  hundred  out  of  it.  And 
I  verily  believe  that  more  good  may  be  lost  for  the 
want  of  that  one,  than  can  be  done  with  it,  and  with 
a  thousand  like  it,  when  the  crisis  is  past.  '  Say  not 
ye,  there  are  yet  four  months,  and  then' — it  is  now,  or 


INQUIRY  MEETINGS.  343 

With  these  views,  so  far  as  my  own  observation 
and  experience  have  gone,  I  fully  concur. 

INQUIRY  MEETINGS. 

Among  the  means  which  God  has  signally  blessed 
in  carrying  forward  revivals  of  religion,  meetings  for 
personal  conversation  with  the  awakened  are  found 
to  hold  an  important  place.  These  meetings  are  by 
common  consent  called  Inquiry  meetings,  in  distinc- 
tion from  all  others — a  better  name,  I  think,  could 
not  be  given  them.  And  in  the  progress  of  a  power- 
ful revival,  when  large  numbers  are  in  the  several 
stages  of  alarm  and  inquiry,  they  are  so  essential, 
that  no  pastor  who  would  make  the  most  of  his 
strength,  can  dispense  with  them. 

When  they  were  first  introduced  among  the  means 
which  God  has  been  pleased  to  own  in  the  glorious 
"times  of  refreshing  from  his  presence,"  I  do  not 
know.  Where  the  Lord  has  poured  out  his  Spirit, 
good  ministers  have  always  encouraged  inquirers  to 
come  to  them  for  personal  conversation  and  advice, 
either  singly  or  several  together ;  but  where  a  great 
many  awakened  sinners  have  needed  their  attention 
at  the  same  time,  they  have  found  it  impossible  to 
meet  them  all,  and  say  even  a  few  words  to  them  at 
the  critical  stages  of  their  need  of  instruction — per- 
haps the  turning-point  of  their  immortal  destiny.  The 
question  was,  Can  any  thing  be  done  to  bring  all  the 
inquirers  within  our  reach,  so  that  in  a  single  hour 
we  may  learn  the  state  of  fifty  or  a  hundred  anxious 
souls,  that  demand  our  immediate  attention?  At  this 
critical  point,  God  put  it  into  the  heart  of  somebody, 


344  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

no  matter  who  or  where,  to  inyite  all  who  were  anx- 
ious to  meet  their  pastor  at  a  given  time  and  place. 
It  was  found  that  in  this  way  the  desired  object 
might  be  accomplished  without  taking  time  which 
could  not  be  spared  from  other  duties  that  always 
press  hard  during  a  revival.  In  the  great  revivals 
at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  I  neither  saw 
nor  heard  of  such  inquiry  meetings  as  we  are  all  now 
familiar  with.  Indeed,  my  first  acquaintance  with 
them  was  about  1817,  it  might  be  a  little  earlier, 
when  Mr.  Nettleton  was  in  the  midst  of  his  remarka- 
ble career,  going  from  place  to  place  in  the  shining 
armor  of  his  mission,  "the  Lord  working  mightily 
with  him,"  wherever  he  went.  He  held  inquiry  meet- 
ings, {anxious  meetings  as  he  called  them,)  and  felt 
that  in  the  midst  of  a  large  revival  he  could  not  do 
without  them.  Other  highly  favored  servants  of  the 
Lord,  ever  since  his  day,  have  felt  so ;  and  such  in- 
quiry meetings  as  he  held  are  now  almost  as  firmly 
established,  where  God  pours  out  his  Spirit,  as  special 
meetings  for  prayer. 

Rightly  conducted,  they  afford  the  best  possible 
criterion  of  the  actual  stage  of  the  revival,  in  a  large 
and  scattered  population.  Such  a  meeting  brings  in- 
quirers of  all  classes  and  from  all  quarters  together, 
enabling  the  pastor  to  feel  the  pulse,  as  it  were,  of 
the  whole  vital  action,  and  to  judge  what  instruction 
from  the  pulpit  and  lecture-room  is  most  needed — 
whether  the  work  is  advancing,  or  at  a  stand,  or 
declining,  that  he  may  "  give  to  every  one  his  portion 
in  due  season."  In  an  outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  such 
changes  often  take  place  in  a  few  days,  that  I  see  not 


INQUIRY  MEETINGS.  346 

how  a  pastor  can  adapt  his  discourses  to  the  existing 
state  of  his  flock,  without  a  general  inquiry  meeting 
at  least  once  a  week,  to  guide  him.  In  that  room,  he 
learns  more  in  half  an  hour  than  he  could,  perhaps, 
were  he  to  spend  his  whole  time  with  individuals  as 
he  might  meet  them  elsewhere. 

It  is  obvious  at  the  same  time,  that  the  helpfulness 
of  inquiry-meetings  will  depend  very  much  upon  how 
they  are  commenced,  and  the  manner  in  which  they 
are  conducted.  Ministers  are  sometimes  quite  at  a 
loss  whether  there  is  interest  enough  in  the  congrega- 
tion to  respond  to  such  an  invitation.  If  there  is 
not,  it  might  prove  a  hinderance  rather  than  a  quick- 
ener  towards  a  revival.  If  with  a  vague  impression 
that  the  way  is  prepared  for  such  a  movement  in  ad- 
vance, a  pastor  were  publicly  to  give  out  an  appoint- 
ment and  nobody  should  come,  the  enemy  might  take 
advantage  of  it,  and  turn  it  to  the  prejudice  of  relig- 
ion. In  pastoral  visits  the  state  of  individual  minds 
may  be  so  far  learned  as  to  guide  the  pastor  aright. 
Publicly  inviting  any  who  may  wish  for  religious 
conversation  to  call  at  the  pastor's  house  or  study,  is 
quite  a  different  thing,  as  it  involves  no  responsibility 
with  regard  to  the  signs  of  the  times. 

The  next  question  is.  When  an  inquiry  meeting  is 
appointed,  who  should  be  invited?  Not  all  the  con- 
gregation of  course.  It  is  a  meeting  for  inquirers,  for 
those  who  feel  some  concern  for  their  souls ;  not  for 
those  who  feel  no  anxiety,  whether  old  or  young.  I 
need  not  say  that  a  great  deal  depends  upon  the  so- 
lemnity of  the  meeting.  If  you  make  the  invitation  so 
broad,  that  those  who  are  in  no  degree  awakened 

15* 


346  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

may  come  in,  and  they  choose  to  come,  it  will  be  like- 
ly to  affect  injuriously  the  real  inquirers,  especially  if 
their  concern  is  not  very  deep ;  very  much  as  bring- 
ing a  cold  body  into  near  contact  with  substances  but 
moderately  warm,  would  tend  to  cool  them  down  to 
the  freezing  point,  rather  than  to  melt  the  ice.  The 
careless,  in  times  of  revival,  are  by  no  means  to  be 
neglected ;  but  the  inquiry  room  is  not  the  place  to 
meet  them. 

I  was  once  invited  by  a  brother,  to  go  into  an 
inquiry  meeting  and  assist  him.  I  went,  and  found  a 
large  room  full.  There  had  been  a  powerful  revival 
in  his  congregation.  In  this  case,  hoping  to  reach 
some  who  had  stood  aloof,  he  had  made  the  invitation 
very  broad.  I  noticed  at  once  the  absence  of  that 
pervading  solemnity  which  I  had  been  accustomed  to 
witness  in  such  meetings ;  and  when  I  came  to  pass 
along  from  seat  to  seat,  and  converse  with  individu- 
als, I  found  nearly  as  many  who  gave  no  evidence  of 
religious  concern,  as  of  the  anxious ;  and  I  was  con- 
vinced that  while  the  former  class  were  not  likely 
to  derive  much  advantage  from  being  there,  their 
presence  was  chilling  and  injurious  to  the  latter. 
So  I  think,  constituted  as  the  human  mind  is,  it  must 
be  in  every  case.  The  aphorism,  "  Old  Adam  is  too 
strong  for  young  Melancthon,"  applies  here  in  an  im- 
portant sense.  In  sympathetic  influences  which  come 
in  conflict,  the  colder  will  be  almost  sure  to  prevail 
over  the  warmer. 

The  two  great  objects  of  an  inquiry  meeting  are, 
to  ascertain  the  actual  state  of  the  revival,  and  in  a 
very  few  words,  to  drop  into  the  ear  of  the  inquirer 


INQUIRY  MEETINGS.  34t 

such  advice  as  seems  to  be  wanted  at  the  moment. 
Where  the  number  is  large,  there  is  no  time  for  ex- 
tended conversation ;  but  as  he  passes  round,  the  pas- 
tor will  ascertain  where  it  is  needed,  and  will  reserve 
such  cases  for  personal  interviews  elsewhere.  The 
meeting  should  always  be  opened  with  a  short  prayer, 
and  all  should  be  requested  to  kneel.  Some  may  re- 
gard the  posture  as  a  matter  of  very  little  conse- 
quence; but  it  is  "much  every  way."  It  brings  down 
stiff  knees,  that  perhaps  have  never  kneeled  before ; 
begets  a  sacred  awe  and  reverence  which  pertains  to 
no  other  posture ;  and  no  other  posture  should  be  en- 
couraged at  such  a  meeting,  where  there  is  room  to 
kneel,  A  few  words  may  or  may  not  follow  the 
prayer.  Then  it  should  be  understood  by  the  inquir- 
ers, that  they  must  have  no  communication  whatever 
with  each  other  in  the  meeting ;  but  that  they  must 
"  commune  with  their  own  hearts,  and  be  still."  In 
passing  round,  the  minister  may  either  speak  to  each 
individual,  in  a  voice  not  so  low  but  that  those  who 
sit  next  can  hear  at  least  a  part  of  what  is  said,  or 
lower  it  down  to  a  whisper,  so  that  the  individual 
alone  can  hear.  I  have  witnessed  both  methods  in 
the  inquiry  room,  and  am  decidedly  in  favor  of  the 
latter.  The  former  diverts  the  attention  of  those  who 
sit  by,  from  their  own  alarming  state,  and  leads  to  a 
comparison  of  feelings,  which  in  my  judgment  should 
always  and  everywhere  be  discouraged,  where  the 
great  question  is,  "  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?" 

In  passing  from  seat  to  seat,  a  few  words  suggest- 
ed by  the  state  in  which  he  finds  an  inquirer,  may  be 
usefully  addressed  by  the  pastor  to  all  assembled, 


348  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

two  or  three  times  perhaps  before  he  gets  through, 
closing  the  meeting  with  a  short  address  and  short 
prayer. 

Experience  proves,  I  think,  that  these  meetings 
should  not  be  very  protracted ;  and  that  they  should 
never  be  continued  to  unseasonable  hours.  Where 
the  congregation  is  large,  some  of  them  may  be  held 
in  the  remote  districts ;  but  it  is  preferable,  in  gen- 
eral, to  hold  them  in  the  centre,  and  to  bring  the  in- 
quirers together  from  all  parts.  It  makes  them  ac- 
quainted with  one  another,  and  helps  to  bind  them 
together  in  a  common  brotherhood.  The  room  should 
not  be  much  larger  than  comfortably  to  seat  as  many 
as  may  be  expected  to  come.  However  it  may  be 
accounted  for,  the  fact  is  unquestionable,  that  there 
will  be  greater  solemnity  in  a  small  room  well  filled, 
than  in  a  large  one  where  many  of  the  seats  are 
empty. 

How  often  such  meetings  should  be  held,  depends 
on  the  state  of  the  revival — as  often  as  once  a  week, 
at  least,  when  it  is  at  its  height,  and  generally  early 
in  the  week,  so  as  to  take  advantage  of  whatever  im- 
pression may  have  been  made  by  the  preaching  of  the 
word,  and  other  religious  meetings  on  the  Sabbath. 

The  pastor,  when  there  are  a  great  many  inquir- 
ers, may  feel  that  he  needs  help,  and  if  such  assist- 
ance can  be  had  as  dealing  with  anxious  souls  re- 
quires, let  it  be  called  in.  Every  minister  of  the  gos- 
pel ought  to  be  qualified  to  take  part  with  his  brother 
in  this  labor  of  love,  but  hardly  any  one  is,  till  he 
has  had  some  experience  himself  in  revivals.  It  re- 
quires a  knowledge  of  the  workings  and  subterfuges 


CONVERSING  WITH  INQUIRERS.  349 

of  the  human  heart,  in  all  the  stages  of  awakening 
and  conviction  up  to  the  last  struggle,  and  a  quick- 
ness of  apprehension  of  the  real  state  of  things,  which 
must  be  acquired  before  they  can  be  exercised.  When 
ministerial  aid  of  the  right  kind  cannot  be  had,  per- 
haps some  lay  brother  may  be  found,  and  called  in 
and  help.  But  it  is  not  speaking  disparagingly  of 
intelligent  members  of  the  churches  to  say,  that  very 
few  of  them  are  qualified  for  this  kind  of  service. 
They  have  not  had  the  experience  which  it  requires. 
They  can  be  exceedingly  helpful  in  many  ways,  but 
not  in  this.     But  I  will  not  enlarge. 

The  foregoing  remarks  and  suggestions  are  chief- 
ly the  result  of  my  own  experience  and  observation. 
Others  may  be  better  guides  when  and  where  inquiry 
meetings  should  be  held  in  revivals,  and  how  they 
should  be  conducted.  If  so,  I  hope  they  will  be  fol- 
lowed. So  far  as  I  know,  these  meetings  are  a  step 
in  advance  of  the  aids  which  pastors  had  learned  how 
to  avail  themselves  of,  half  a  century  ago.  If  any 
improvements  can  be  made,  or  any  thing  better  sub- 
stituted, I  will  bless  God  for  putting  it  into  the 
hearts  of  his  ministers. 

CONVERSING   WITH    THE    AWAKENED    AND   THE 
UNAWAKENED  IN  REVIVALS. 

There  is  much  to  be  said  by  the  pastor,  and  by 
others  outside  of  the  inquiry  room ;  and  very  much 
depends  upon  who  shall  say  it.  "A  word  fitly  spoken 
is  like  apples  of  gold  in  pictures  of  silver."  Every 
member  of  the  church  has  something  to  do  to  help 
forward  the  work.     We  are  all,  or  should  be,  labor- 


350  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

ers  together  with  God.  There  is  no  one  but  can 
speak  a  word  in  season  to  somebody.  The  plea  so 
often  made,  "  I  can't  do  any  thing,  I  am  not  capable 
of  talking  with  any  body,''  will  not  hold.  You  can 
say  something.  "Out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart 
the  mouth  speaketh ;"  and  God  will  hold  you  account- 
able for  what  you  have,  for  what  you  can  do  and  say, 
whether  it  be  much  or  little. 

It  is  true,  indeed,  there  may  be  few  members  of 
a  church  who  are  capable  of  conversing  with  sin- 
ners in  all  the  stages  of  awakening  and  inquiry.  It 
requires  more  knowledge,  discrimination,  and  experi- 
ence than  some  of  the  most  devoted  Christians  pos- 
sess. There  are  cases  where  a  few  words  of  wrong 
instruction  or  advice  might  "  heal  the  hurt  slightly," 
might  quiet  the  sinner's  conscience  with  a  false  hope ; 
or  on  the  other  hand,  drive  him  almost  or  quite  to 
despair.  But  every  one  is  capable  of  saying  some- 
thing to  friends  who  remain  unalarmed  in  the  midst 
of  a  revival,  or  who  are  not  much  interested — ^some- 
thing which  by  God's  blessing  may  prove  the  means 
of  their  salvation.  If  you  cannot  go  abroad,  if  you 
cannot  exhort  your  neighbors,  you  can  at  least  speak 
to  the  unawakened  in  your  own  households,  and  urge 
them  to  seek  the  Lord  while  he  may  be  found,  and 
call  upon  him  while  he  is  near.  Talents  and  learn- 
ing are  not  at  all  essential,  so  far  as  this.  What  is 
wanted  is  a  warm  heart,  a  yearning  of  soul  which 
can  take  no  denial.  Those  who  would  not  dare  to 
talk  with  inquirers,  for  fear  of  doing  hurt,  can  go  out 
into  the  highways  and  hedges,  where  they  will  find 
ample  room  for  earnest  exhortation,  and  may  perhaps 


CONVERSING  WITH  INQUIRERS.  351 

do  as  much  to  increase  the  number  of  inquirers  and 
converts  by  bringing  in  those  who  would  otherwise 
never  come  to  the  gospel  feast,  as  if  they  could  guide 
inquiring  souls  to  the  cross. 

It  will  not  be  denied,  that  in  the  progress  of  a 
revival,  all  impenitent  persons  belonging  to  the  con- 
gregation, or  to  whom  access  can  be  gained,  ought 
to  be  spoken  to  and  exhorted  to  avail  themselves 
of  the  accepted  time,  and  the  day  of  salvation.  But 
there  must  first  be  a  preparation  of  heart  for  this 
service,  before  much  good  influence  can  be  expected 
from  it.  No  member  of  the  church,  however  gifted, 
is  in  a  condition  to  urge  sinners  to  flee  from  the 
wrath  to  come,  till  his  own  heart  glows  with  love 
and  compassion.  His  conscience  may  constrain  him 
to  attempt  the  duty  while  he  himself  is  not  awakened, 
but  remains  in  a  cold  backsliding  state ;  he  may  force 
himself  to  speak  to  his  neighbors,  but  they  will  see  at 
once  that  it  does  not  come  warm  from  his  heart,  and 
may  be  rather  repelled  than  persuaded  by  any  thing 
he  can  say.  The  Psalmist  deeply  felt  the  necessity 
of  a  penitent,  heart  preparation  for  this  duty,  when 
he  prayed,  "  Restore  unto  me  the  joy  of  thy  salvation, 
and  uphold  me  by  thy  free  Spirit ;  then  will  I  teach 
transgressors  thy  ways,  and  sinners  shall  be  convert- 
ed unto  thee."  And  no  one  can  be  in  a  right  frame 
to  discharge  this  duty,  till  the  joy  of  God's  salvation 
is  restored  to  his  own  soul.  But  beware,  my  brother, 
how  you  try  to  excuse  yourself  by  pleading  your  own 
coldness  and  spiritual  leanness.  It  will  not  do.  The 
Searcher  of  hearts  will  not  accept  it.  So  far  from  its 
being  a  good  excuse,  it  is  your  own  fault,  and  you 


352  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

will  be  held  accountable  for  the  neglect.  Offer  no 
such  plea.  You  bring  yourself  in  guilty  when  you 
say  that  you  are  not  in  a  right  state  of  mind  to  talk 
with  careless  sinners,  and  persuade  them  to  come  in. 
It  is  pleading  a  great  sin  as  an  excuse  for  shrinking 
from  an  important  duty.  Every  professor  of  religion 
ought  always  to  be  in  such  a  frame  as  to  converse 
freely  with  those  who  are  living  without  hope  and 
without  God  in  the  world  ;  and  how  much  more,  when 
he  is  pouring  out  his  Spirit,  and  the  kingdom  of  God 
is  brought  so  nigh  to  those  who  are  ready  to  perish. 

I  have  already  said  that  it  requires  much  judg- 
ment and  experience  to  converse  with  awakened  sin- 
ners, and  lead  them  to  Christ.  But  few,  compared 
with  the  whole  number  in  a  church,  are  likely  to  pos- 
sess these  qualifications.  So  that  while  all  the  mem- 
bers may  try  to  alarm  the  stupid,  and  ought  to  do  it 
to  the  extent  of  their  ability,  the  majority  cannot  be 
safely  advised  to  go  much  further  in  the  time  of  a 
revival.  When  they  find  cases  of  real  awakening, 
they  should  report  them  at  once  to  the  pastor,  or  to 
some  one  of  his  efficient  helpers,  that  they  may  receive 
such  instruction  and  guidance  as  they  need.  A  judi- 
cious pastor  will  generally  know  who  can  be  trusted 
to  talk  with  persons  asking  what  they  must  do  to  be 
saved,  and  he  will  feel  it  his  duty  to  discourage 
others  from  venturing  beyond  their  depth  as  guides, 
where  mistakes  might  be  fatal. 

In  all  ordinary  cases,  the  most  competent  mem- 
bers of  the  church,  in  dealing  with  souls  during  the 
critical  period  between  their  being  awakened  and 
converted,  ought  to  act  under  the  advice  and  direc- 


CONVERSING  WITH  INQUIRERS.  353 

tion  of  the  pastor,  and  to  keep  him  fiilly  informed, 
from  day  to  day,  of  the  progress  of  the  work  as  it 
falls  under  this  vigilant  observation;  and  to  report 
all  difiScult  cases  to  hira,  that  they  may  be  promptly 
attended  to.  And  to  aid  them  in  the  discharge  of 
their  personal  duties  in  laboring  to  win  souls  to 
Christ,  a  pastor  experienced  in  revivals  will  call 
them  together  as  occasion  may  require,  to  hear  their 
reports,  and  in  free  conversation  give  them  the  re- 
sults of  his  experience  to  aid  them  in  the  work. 

If  any  one  should  ask  how  often  the  awakened 
ought  to  be  conversed  with,  no  definite  answer  can 
be  given.  It  must  depend  upon  constantly  shifting 
circumstances.  It  should  be  often  enough  to  mark 
their  progress  step  by  step,  and  to  sound  the  alarm 
at  once  if  they  show  signs  of  drawing  back.  But 
there  is  such  a  thing  as  saying  too  much  to  an  awa- 
kened sinner,  especially  when  he  has  come  to  the 
turning-point — when  his  vain  excuses  have  all  been 
taken  from  him,  and  he  sees  clearly  that  he  ought  to 
hold  out  no  longer.  Then  it  is  better  to  stand  out 
of  the  way,  and  leave  him  to  settle  the  controversy 
with  God,  than  to  say  much  more  to  him.  He  may 
come  to  you  in  great  distress,  asking  what  he  shall 
do  to  be  saved,  and  keep  coming  after  you  have  told 
him  a  great  many  times,  till  you  see  he  is  leaning 
upon  you  when  he  ought  to  cast  himself  at  once 
upon  the  mercy  of  God  in  Christ.  I  have  known 
such  cases.  I  believe  they  occur  in  almost  every  re- 
vival. And  then,  "I  can't  help  you.  You  have  been 
lingering  much  too  long;  I  have  nothing  more  to 
say.     You  must  go  to  the  cross  at  once ;  there  is  no 


354  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

help  for  you  till  you  get  there,"  is  more  likely  to 
bring  him  to  a  decision,  than  any  thing  more  you 
could  say.  A  young  man  who  had  been  religiously 
educated,  whose  attention  was  called  up  in  a  power- 
ful revival  in  college,  and  with  whom  I  had  often 
conversed,  sent  for  me  late  one  evening,  urging  me 
to  come  and' see  him,  for  he  was  on  the  very  bor- 
ders of  despair.  I  had  conversed  with  him  that  very 
day,  and  knew  that  he  was  in  great  distress.  It 
seemed  cruel  to  refuse.  But  I  sent  him  word,  "  I 
can  do. you  no  good.  In  the  stubbornness  of  your 
heart  you  are  holding  out  against  God.  There  is 
but  one  hope  left  for  you,  which  you  know  just  as 
well  as  I  could  tell  you.  You  must  yield  yourself  to 
God,  or  you  are  lost  for  ever."  It  was  hoped  he  gave 
himself  to  Christ  before  morning,  which  it  is  very 
doubtful  whether  he  would  have  done,  had  I  gone  to 
see  him.  It  is  far  more  likely  that  I  should  have 
stood  in  the  way.  And  so  I  believe  it  often  happens. 
The  convicted  sinner  often  lingers,  or  rather  holds 
out,  as  long  as  he  can  find  anybody  to  lean  upon.  It 
is  sometimes  as  much  our  duty  to  be  silent  and  stand 
out  of  the  way,  as  at  others  to  warn  the  same  persons 
to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come.  "He  that  winneth 
souls  is  wise." 

And  here  let  me  add,  those  who  are  active  in  a 
revival  should  have  a  mutual  understanding,  so  that 
too  many  shall  not  converse  with  the  same  person  on 
the  same  day.  While  the  impenitent  ought  by  no 
means  to  be  neglected  when  God  is  pouring  out  his 
Spirit,  there  is  some  danger  of  repelling  them  by  the 
importunity  of  too  many  brethren  following  in  quick 


CONVERSING  WITH  INQUIRERS.  355 

succession.  It  is  better  to  agree  upon  a  division  of 
labor,  so  that  while  none  shall  be  neglected,  none 
shall  have  reason  to  complain  that  when  they  are 
willing  to  be  conversed  with,  too  many  come  at  once. 

One  thing  further.  In  looking  over  any  church 
and  congregation,  it  will  be  found  that  wisdom  is 
profitable  to  direct  who  can  approach  this  and  that 
individual  to  the  best  advantage.  This  depends  on  a 
great  variety  of  relations  and  circumstances.  There 
should  be  a  consultation  something  like  this  :  There 
are  many  in  the  congregation  who  are  not  much  if  at 
all  interested,  who  ought  to  be  conversed  with  and 
brought  in  if  possible;  and  who  shall  do  it?  Such 
a  man  is  prejudiced  against  me,  but  he  is  your  friend. 
I  cannot  approach  him,  but  you  can.  To  another,  A 
has  been  your  intimate  companion.  He  has  confi- 
dence in  you,  he  will  hear  you  when  he  might  repulse 
anybody  else.  To  another,  B  can  be  approached  bet- 
ter by  you  than  by  any  of  us ;  you  see  him  every 
day,  and  your  personal  relations  are  such  that  you 
can  talk  with  him  and  be  more  likely  to  influence 
him ;  and  so  on  down  to  the  end  of  the  alphabet. 

In  how  many  things  are  the  children  of  this  world 
wiser  than  the  children  of  light.  When  they  have  a 
favorite  object  to  accomplish,  requiring  widely  ex- 
tended cooperation,  with  what  skill  do  they  avail 
themselves  of  the  social  principle,  and  with  what  suc- 
cess. Let  all  the  members  of  a  church  be  as  much  in 
earnest,  and  act  as  wisely ;  let  them  consider,  in  every 
stage  of  a  revival,  what  there  is  to  be  done  to  win 
souls  to  Christ,  and  who  can  do  it  best ;  let  there  be 
no  shrinking,  after  due  consultation,  from  any  assign- 


356  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

ed  duty  towards  those  who  are  yet  to  be  reached  and 
brought  in ;  and  who  can  doubt  that  God  would  own 
and  bless  such  a  judicious  division  of  labor  ? 

INSTRUCTION  TO  CANDIDATES  FOR  MEMBER- 
SHIP. 

It  is  commonly  the  case  that  sooner  or  later,  in 
the  progress  of  a  revival,  or  after  its  close,  most  of 
the  converts  are  received  into  the  church  together. 
They  are  of  different  ages  and  classes,  and  do  not  all 
need  the  same  amount  of  religious  instruction  to  pre- 
pare them  for  membership.  Some  understand  the 
scriptural  qualifications  for  membership  much  better 
than  others ;  but  none  who  offer  themselves  as  candi- 
dates, are  so  well  prepared  as  not  to  be  profited  by 
still  further  instruction,  if  judiciously  given  and  right- 
ly received.  Next  in  importance,  after  giving  the 
heart  to  God,  is  an  intelligent  public  profession ;  and 
no  one  can  safely  take  this  step  without  knowing 
what  are  the  evidences  of  a  saving  change,  and  bring- 
ing his  hope  to  the  test  of  these  evidences,  as  laid 
down  in  the  word  of  God.  A  good  deal  of  this 
teaching,  I  take  it  for  granted,  will  be  given  to  in- 
dividuals in  the  pastor's  study,  and  from  the  pulpit ; 
but  something  more  is  wanted,  which  can  better  be 
given  in  meetings  of  the  candidates,  called  for  the 
express  purpose.  Such  meetings  save  a  great  deal  of 
the  pastor's  time,  for  so  far  as  the  instruction  is  con- 
cerned, he  can  as  well  give  it  to  twenty  or  fifty, 
assembled  for  that  express  purpose,  as  to  an  individ- 
ual j  and  it  is  even  more  likely  to  be  remembered. 
Such  topics  as  the  following  might  naturally  be  sug- 
gested at  these  meetings. 


CANDIDATES  FOR  MEMBERSHIP.  351 

The  evidences  of  true  saving  conversion,  what  are 
they?  In  answering  this  question,  it  is  necessary 
to  go  into  the  subject  largely,  guided  solely  by  the 
Scriptures;  to  point  out  these  "signs,"  as  President 
Edwards  calls  them,  distinctly,  and  then  to  exhort 
the  candidates  to  examine  themselves  by  these  signs, 
whether  they  are  in  the  faith.  Have  you  comforta- 
ble evidence  that  Christ  is  formed  in  you  the  hope  of 
glory  ?  If  not,  wait,  search  the  Scriptures,  and  give 
yourselves  to  prayer,  till  you  have  such  evidence. 
Christ  welcomes  none  but  true  disciples  to  his  table. 
"Eat,  0  friends ;  drink  abundantly,  0  beloved.''^ 

It  is  well  also  to  take  up  the  confessioii  of  faith, 
and  explain  it  to  the  candidates  in  the  most  familiar 
way,  so  that  they  may  understand  what  is  the  doc- 
trinal standard  of  the  church  to  which  they  must  give 
their  assent.  Neglect  here  has  often  occasioned  much 
future  trouble  and  perplexity.  No  member  of  a  church 
should  ever  have  it  in  his  power  to  say,  "The  con- 
fession of  faith  was  never  explained  to  me  before  I 
joined  the  church.  There  are  some  things  in  it  which 
I  do  not  believe ;  and  if  I  had  known  how  they  were 
understood  by  the  church,  I  should  not  have  come  in. 
I  should  have  offered  myself  elsewhere,  and  unless 
they  can  be  altered,  I  must  leave  the  church." 

Now,  if  in  such  meetings  as  I  am  recommending, 
the  meaning  of  every  article  as  understood  by  the 
church,  had  been  taken  up  and  clearly  explained,  no 
such  plea  could  have  been  offered  ;  or  if  it  had  been, 
the  answer  would  be,  "If  you  misunderstood  our 
creed  it  was  your  own  fault,  not  ours.  Great  pains 
were  taken  to  explain  it,  in  meeting  after  meeting, 


358  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

held  for  that  very  purpose.  Then  was  the  time  to 
object  if  ever.  There  was  no  compulsion  or  con- 
straint. After  hearing  a  full  explanation  of  our  doc- 
trinal platform,  it  was  left  entirely  at  your  option 
whether  to  join  our  church  or  not.  Every  one  ought 
to  know  what  he  believes,  before  he  puts  his  hand  to 
any  confession  of  faith.  We  have  done  all  we  could 
to  aid  you." 

It  is  desirable  fully  to  explain  the  covenant  engage- 
ments which  are  assumed.  It  is  to  be  feared,  that  a 
great  many  persons  stand  up  before  God,  angels,  and 
men,  without  any  just  sense  of  the  solemn  obligations 
which  they  take  upon  themselves.  It  has  often  been 
found  useful,  in  meetings  held  for  the  purpose,  to  take 
up  and  distinctly  present  these  obligations ;  and  let 
all  be  warned  not  to  proceed  without  a  full  and  de- 
liberate intention,  trusting  in  God's  help,  to  "stand 
to  the  covenant." 

How  many  meetings  with  the  converts  it  may  re- 
quire to  go  over  all  the  ground  embraced  in  these 
recommendations,  cannot  beforehand  be  determined. 
Let  time  enough  be  taken  to  do  them  ample  justice. 
Besides  the  duty  of  helping  the  candidates  to  make 
a  good  and  well-considered  profession  of  their  faith 
in  Christ,  they  are  in  a  better  state  of  mind  to  re- 
ceive and  be  profited  by  such  a  course  of  instruction 
and  advice,  than  they  will  be  at  any  future  time.  Too 
much  pains  cannot  be  taken  to  have  them  *'  rooted 
and  grounded"  in  the  truth,  that  they  may  adorn 
their  profession  in  all  holy  conversation  and  god- 
liness. With  any  thing  short  of  such  a  course  as 
above  indicated,  I  have  not  been  able  to  satisfy  my- 


JOINING  THE  CHURCH.  359 

self  at  tlie  close  of  revivals,  where  the  responsibil- 
ity rested  ujDon  me,  and  I  am  persuaded  that  in  let- 
ting such  favorable  opportunities  pass  unimproved, 
some  ministers  forego  advantages  for  building  up 
their  churches  in  the  faith  and  order  of  the  gospel, 
which  with  so  little  labor  they  hardly  ever  enjoy. 

If  the  converts  follow  on  to  know  the  Lord,  and 
add  strength  as  well  as  numbers  to  the  church  by 
an  active  and  blameless  Christian  life,  it  is  the  best 
evidence  of  the  genuineness  of  their  conversion.  But 
if,  on  the  other  hand,  in  a  few  weeks  or  months  after 
the  work  has  ceased,  those  who  were  counted  as  con- 
verts relapse  into  their  former  state,  and  bring  forth 
no  fruit,  it  Avill  be  an  evidence  that  the  work  was 
superficial  and  not  genuine,  however  it  may  have  been 
regarded  at  the  time.  By  faithful  instruction,  as  above 
indicated,  let  the  pastor  and  the  oJQ&cers  of  the  church 
clear  themselves  from  blame,  if  any  should  come  to 
the  supper  without  the  wedding  garment. 

TO  PERSONS  ABOUT  TO  JOIN  THE  CHURCH 
AFTER  A  REVIVAL. 

My  dear  Friends — You  have  expressed  a  desire 
to  make  a  public  profession  of  your  faith  in  Christ, 
and  to  be  received  into  his  church.  It  is  well.  It  is 
an  unspeakable  privilege.  It  is  the  duty  of  every 
true  disciple  to  put  on  the  badge  of  discipleship,  to 
avail  himself  of  all  church  privileges,  and  to  witness 
a  good  profession  before  the  world.  It  is  a  great 
step  which  should  not  be  hastily  taken,  and  yet  it 
ought  not  to  be  very  long  delayed  by  any  who  have 
a  comfortable  hope  that  they  have  been  born  again. 


360  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

But  "let  a  man  examine  himself,  and  so  let  him  eat 
of  that  bread  and  drink  of  that  cup."  You  have  been 
examined  and  approved  by  the  pastor  and  officers  of 
the  church.  From  your  own  lips  they  have  sought 
to  obtain  evidence  that  you  have  passed  from  death 
unto  life.  In  this  they  have  gone  as  far  as  they  can. 
But  they  cannot  search  your  hearts.  The  responsi- 
bility must  rest  upon  yourselves. 

The  apostolic  injunction  is,  "  Examine  yourselves 
whether  ye  be  in  the  faith :  prove  your  own  selves." 
And  again,  "  Let  a  man  examine  himself^  and  so  let 
him  eat  of  that  bread  and  drink  of  that  cup.  For  he 
that  eateth  and  drinketh  unworthily,  eateth  and  drink- 
eth  damnation  (judgment)  to  himself,  not  discern- 
ing the  Lord's  body.''  What  better  proof  could  we 
have,  that  none  but  true  believers  have  a  right  to 
come  to  the  Lord's  table?  What  then,  dear  friends, 
are  your  evidences  that  you  have  cast  off  the  works 
of  darkness,  and  put  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ?  You 
were  once  alienated  from  God.  You  did  not  desire 
the  knowledge  of  his  ways.  You  were  carnally 
minded.  Like  the  poor  man  in  the  gospel,  you  were 
blind  from  your  birth,  only  in  a  different  and  far 
more  incurable  sense.  You  saw  no  form  nor  come- 
liness in  Christ,  whereby  you  should  desire  him.  On 
the  contrary,  whether  you  were  conscious  of  it  or  not, 
you  said  in  your  hearts,  and  in  your  life,  by  walking 
according  to  the  course  of  this  world,  "  Depart  from 
us,  we  desire  not  the  knowledge  of  thy  ways."  In  a 
word,  you  were  by  nature  "  children  of  wrath,"  "  chil- 
dren of  disobedience ;"  yea,  "  dead  in  trespasses  and 


JOINING  THE  CHURCH.  361 

This  was  once  your  deplorable  and  guilty  state. 
You  lay  helpless  under  the  condemning  sentence  of 
God's  holy  law,  and  under  that  condemnation  you 
might  have  been  justly  left  to  perish.  In  these  most 
alarming  circumstances,  you  have  been  called  to  wake 
and  rise  from  the  dead,  that  Christ  might  give  you 
life. 

Now,  dear  brethren,  what  evidence  have  you  that 
you  have  passed  from  death  unto  life  ?  I  do  not  ask, 
whether  you  can  all  relate  the  same  experience. 
"There  are  diversities  of  operation,  but  the  same 
Spirit."  In  the  exercises  which  go  before  regenera- 
tion, there  are  striking  differences  between  individ- 
uals. Some  are  much  more  distressed  than  others, 
and  for  a  longer  time  before  they  find  deliverance. 
Upon  the  minds  of  some,  the  light  breaks  in  suddenly, 
so  that  they  can  tell  the  very  day  and  hour  when 
they  were  brought  out  of  darkness  into  marvellous 
light.  In  others,  it  is  a  faint  beam  at  first,  which 
shines  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day.  You 
will  never  get  any  satisfactory  evidence  of  your  good 
estate — -I  mean,  any  evidence  that  can  be  safely  relied 
upon — by  "  comparing  yourselves  among  yourselves." 
You  must  go  to  the  Bible  and  compare  your  exer- 
cises with  that  divine  standard.  There  is  no  other. 
"  The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and  thou  hearest 
the  sound  thereof,  but  canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh, 
nor  whither  it  goeth.  So  is  every  one  who  is  born 
of  the  Spirit."  All  the  truly  converted  are  not 
brought  to  Christ  in  the  same  way,  or  by  the  same 
means. 

But  the  change  is  the  same  in  all,  and  is  wrought 

Bev.  Sketchei.  16 


362  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

by  the  same  almighty  power.  They  "  are  born,  not 
of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of 
man,  but  of  God.''  By  fervent  prayer  for  divine  illu- 
mination, and  by  searching  the  Scriptures,  you  may 
know  in  whom  you  have  believed.  You  may  have 
the  witness  in  yourselves,  more  or  less  clear  accord- 
ing to  the  earnestness  of  your  seeking  in  reliance 
upon  the  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  alone  can  "  take 
of  the  things  of  Christ,  and  show  them  unto  you." 
What  then  do  you  say  for  yourself?  You  know  where 
you  were  once,  sinking  in  the  horrible  pit  and  the 
miry  clay.  Where  do  you  now  stand?  Has  Christ 
brought  you  up,  and  placed  your  feet  upon  a  rock? 
Do  you  begin  to  feel  its  firmness,  and  rest  upon  it? 
Can  you  say,  "  One  thing  I  know,  that  whereas  I 
was  blind,  now  I  see?"  Have  you  seen  the  plague  of 
your  own  hearts,  and  do  you  heartily  repent  of  all 
your  sins?  Do  you  approve  of  the  law  of  God,  which 
is  holy,  just,  and  good?  Have  you  been  brought  to 
see  the  impossibility  of  saving  yourselves,  and  have 
you  by  the  grace  of  God  fled  for  refuge  to  lay  hold 
on  the  hope  set  before  you  in  the  gospel  ?  Has  your 
mind  within  these  few  weeks  passed  through  a  great 
moral  revolution?  Do  you  love  that  which  you  be- 
fore hated,  and  hate  that  which  you  loved?  Do  you 
love  the  Bible ;  do  you  love  the  prayer-meeting;  do 
you  love  the  house  of  God ;  do  you  love  the  brethren? 
Time  was  when  you  saw  no  beauty  in  the  Saviour, 
that  you  should  desire  him.  How  is  it  now?  Is 
he  no  longer  as  a  root  out  of  a  dry  ground,  but  all 
your  salvation,  and  all  your  desire  ?  Have  you  receiv- 
ed him  by  faith  as  your  Saviour?     Renouncing  all 


JOINING  THE  CHURCH.  363 

other  dependences,  do  you  really  trust  in  him,  lean 
upon  him,  love  him,  cleave  to  him  as  your  divine 
Teacher,  your  atoning  Sacrifice,  your  Lord,  and  your 
King  ?  In  asking  to  be  admitted  into  his  church,  have 
you  counted  the  cost?  Have  you  considered  that  a 
public  profession  of  religion  requires  nothing  less 
than  an  entire  consecration  of  body  and  soul,  of  all 
your  faculties,  of  all  you  have,  of  all  you  are,  to  the 
service  of  Christ ;  and  as  far  as  you  know  your  own 
hearts,  are  you  ready  to  covenant  with  him,  relying 
on  his  grace  to  help  your  infirmities? 

*  These,  dear  friends,  are  some  of  the  tests  by  which 
you  ought  to  try  yourselves  before  you  enter  the 
church.  Nor  will  your  unaided  self-scrutiny  be  suffi- 
cient. Let  this  be  your  constant  prayer,  "  Search 
me,  0  God,  and  know  my  heart;  try  me  and  know 
my  thoughts,  and  see  if  there  be  any  wicked  way  in 
me,  and  lead  me  in  the  way  everlasting." 

You  are  all  invited  to  come  to  the  feast.  No 
sense  of  unworthiness  should  keep  you  away.  The 
sacramental  table  will  be  spread  in  a  few  days,  and 
"whosoever  will,  let  him  come."  You  have  no  fit- 
ting garment  of  your  own  in  which  to  come,  but  the 
wardrobe  is  hard  by  ;  the  guest-chamber  is  full.  An 
essential  condition  of  the  invitation  is,  that  each  of 
the  invited  shall  appear  in  one  of  the  robes  taken 
from  that  royal  depository ;  and  Oh,  fail  not  when 
the  King  comes  in  to  see  the  guests,  to  have  on  a 
wedding  garment.  Without  it  you  will  be  speech- 
less when  he  shall  inquire  why  this  intrusion,  and 
turn  you  out. 


364  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

TO  THE  CONVERTS   IN  A  REVIVAL  WHEN   THEY 
JOIN  THE  CHURCH. 

My  dear  Friends — You  have  stood  up  in  the 
presence  of  God,  of  angels,  and  men,  and  taken  upon 
yourselves  the  vows  of  the  covenant.  You  have 
voluntarily  and  publicly  renounced  the  world,  the 
flesh,  and  the  devil.  You  have  been  received  into 
the  church  of  Christ,  which  is  "  the  pillar  and  ground 
of  the  truth."  You  are  "  no  more  strangers  and  for- 
eigners, but  fellow-citizens  with  the  saints  and  of  the 
household  of  faith."  You  have  come  to  your  first 
communion  with  the  church  at  the  table  of  Christ. 
You  have  not  by  constraint,  but  willingly,  enlisted 
under  his  banner,  and  your  enlistment  is  for  life. 
You  have  put  your  hands  to  the  plough ;  you  have 
opened  your  mouths  unto  the  Lord,  and  cannot  go 
back.  You  think  you  would  not  for  the  world  go 
back,  if  you  might.  We  pray  that  you  may  every 
one  of  you  be  "kept  by  the  power  of  God,  through 
faith  unto  salvation."  A  profession  of  religion  is  no 
sinecure.  If  Christ  in  the  abounding  riches  of  his 
grace  has  called  you  into  his  kingdom,  it  is  that  you 
at  once  enter  into  his  service  ;  and  your  first  inquiry 
should  be,  Lor^d,  what  loilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ?  Christ 
wants  no  idlers  among  his  professed  followers  :  "  Fol- 
low me,"  is  the  word  of  command,  by  the  Captain  of 
your  salvation ;  and  who  ever  set  such  an  example  of 
activity,  of  entire  devotedness  to  the  great  objects 
of  his  mission,  as  he  did  ?  "  Wot  ye  not  that  I  must 
be  about  my  Father's  business  ?"  was  his  reply  to  those 
who  would  have  diverted  him  from  the  great  objects 


JOINING  THE  CHURCH.  365 

of  his  mission.  "It  is  enough  for  the  disciple  that 
he  be  as  his  Master,  and  the  servant  as  his  Lord." 

You  are  now  just  entering  upon  a  religious  life, 
and  as  you  begin  you  will  be  very  apt  to  proceed. 
If  you  set  your  mark  high,  remembering  that  "ye  a,re 
not  your  own,"  but  "bought  with  a  price,"  even  the 
precious  blood  of  Christ,  you  will,  by  the  aid  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  "  witness  a  good  profession  before  many 
witnesses,"  and  they  will  take  knowledge  of  you,  that 
you  have  been  with  Jesus.  If  on  the  contrary,  hav- 
ing got  into  the  church,  you  take  a  low  stand  at  first, 
instead  of  rising  you  will  invariably  decline,  till  your 
brethren  will  be  constrained  to  stand  in  doubt  of  you, 
and  the  world  will  ask.  What  do  ye  more  than  others? 
If  a  soldier  of  an  earthly  prince,  upon  his  first  enlist- 
ment, by  going  into  winter  quarters  instead  of  per- 
forming the  services  of  the  campaign,  would  disgrace 
his  profession,  how  much  more  would  a  soldier  of 
Jesus  Christ,  who  should  consult  his  own  ease,  and 
shrink  away  into  his  cold  winter  quarters,  when  he 
ought  to  be  in  the  field. 

You  will  not  all  be  called  to  the  same  services  in 
the  church,  or  the  world.  The  duties  of  the  Chris- 
tian life  are  many  and  various,  and  there  are  diversi- 
ties of  gifts.  But  before  I  proceed  to  enumerate 
them,  I  must  say  something  about  your  putting  on  the 
armor  of  God,  as  you  can  do  nothing  without  it.  We 
may  not  forget  that  you  are  new  recruits,  and  have  a 
great  deal  to  learn,  as  well  as  a  great  deal  to  do. 
Some  of  you  are  quite  young,  and  you  all  want  a  sure 
Guide.  Till  this  revival,  you  scarcely  thought  of  it, 
perhaps.    The  broad  way  was  wide,  and  you  had 


366  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

room  enough  without  any  guide.  Now,  the  case  is 
different.  You  have  entered  a  new  and  untrodden 
path.  Since  you  began  to  inquire  the  way  to  heaven, 
your  pastor  and  other  pious  friends  have  instructed 
and  directed  you,  as  G-od  has  enabled  them,  and  they 
will  continue  to  do  so.  But  you  want  an  infallible 
Guide,  one  that  will  go  with  you  all  the  journey 
through.  Can  you  have  such  a  guide  and  teacher? 
You  can.  Such  a  one  has  always  been  at  your  right 
hand,  though  till  lately  most  of  you  felt  very  little 
need  of  any  special  direction. 

God  might  have  inspired  a  prophet  like  Moses  to 
lead  you  through  the  wilderness.  He  might  have 
sent  his  angel  to  go  before  and  guard  you.  He  might 
have  given  the  Shekinah  to  shine  upon  every  step  of 
the  way  to  the  promised  land.  But  he  has  done 
more ;  0  how  much  more!  He  has  given  you  "  Moses 
and  the  Prophets."  He  sent  his  Son,  "  the  brightness 
of  his  glory  and  the  express  image  of  his  person,"  to 
lead  you  in  the  way  everlasting.  And  when  he  left 
the  world,  he  inspired  his  apostles  to  be  your  infal- 
lible teachers  and  guides.  And  here  are  all  their 
teachings  in  this  one  book,  the  Bible,  just  as  if  they 
were  personally  to  return  to  the  earth,  and  you  could 
hear  their  voices  and  follow  them.  Christ  is  now,  as 
it  were,  putting  you  to  school,  not  under  the  law 
to  bring  you  to  Christ,  but  under  the  Gospel,  that  you 
may  be  trained  up  for  his  service.  And  the  Bible  is 
your  text-book.  There  is  no  such  teaching  in  the 
wide  world  as  you  will  find  here.  It  is  put  into  your 
hands  now,  at  your  setting  out,  to  be  the  man  of  your 
counsel  and  the  guide  of  your  life.     Take  it  along 


JOINING  THE  CHURCH.  36*7 

with  you,  dear  friends,  as  "  a  light  to  jour  feet  and  a 
lamp  to  your  path."  It  is  a  book  to  be  read,  and 
studied,  and  learned  by  heart.  In  one  sense,  it  is  not 
new,  perhaps,  to  any  of  you ;  but  in  another  sense  it 
is.  The  letter  of  some  portions  of  it  may  be  quite 
familiar,  but  to  the  spiritual  meaning  your  eyes  are 
only  now  beginning  to  be  opened.  You  need  the  sin- 
cere milk  of  the  word,  that  you  may  grow  thereby 
and  gradually  reach  the  stature  of  perfect  men. 

Do  the  younger  of  you  ask  how  you  can  study  the 
scriptures  to  the  best  advantage — where  to  begin, 
and  how  to  proceed  ?  I  answer,  There  is  light 
in  every  portion  of  the  word,  and  whatever  interests 
you  is  profitable.  If  you  would  begin  with  the  simpler 
portions,  take  the  Gospels  and  the  Psalms  ;  pray  over 
every  psalm,  chapter,  and  portion  as  you  read  ;  medi- 
tate, and  thus  prepare  your  minds  to  grasp  the  more 
difficult  portions.  The  Bible  is  its  own  best  inter- 
preter. By  comparing  Scripture  with  Scripture,  you 
will  be  surprised  to  find  how  many  difficult  passages 
are  cleared  up,  and  the  light  will  shine  more  and 
more  upon  the  "  things  hard  to  be  understood,"  if  you 
then  follow  on  to  know  the  Lord. 

Let  me  advise  you,  in  reading  the  Scriptures,  not 
to  confine  yourselves  to  a  single  chapter  at  a  time. 
The  divisions,  as  we  have  them,  are  entirely  arbitrary. 
They  often  break  off  abruptly  in  the  middle  of  the  ar- 
gument or  narrative,  so  that  if  you  leave  off  at  the  end 
of  the  chapter,  you  lose  the  connection,  and  may  forget 
it  before  the  next  reading.  In  the  original,  there  are 
no  chapters.  Many  of  the  books  are  not  so  long  but 
that  they  can  be  read  at  a  single  sitting.     Read  them 


368  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

sometimes  through,  as  you  do  other  small  books  that 
interest  you,  before  you  close  the  book ;  while  at 
other  times,  you  will  find  it  more  profitable  to  read 
and  meditate  upon  short  portions.  Still  further,  it 
will  take  but  a  moment  or  two  to  commit  a  text  to 
memory  every  morning,  which  may  be  kept  in  mind 
through  the  day.  Do  this,  and  you  will  have  treasured 
up  three  hundred  and  sixty -five  at  the  end  of  the  year. 
How  many  in  ten  years?  No  less  than  three  thou- 
sand six  hundred  and  fifty !  Dear  friends,  will  you 
not  do  it,  or  rather  a  great  deal  more  than  this  ?  I 
advise  you  to  commit  whole  psalms  and  chapters  of 
the  gospels  to  memory.  It  will  be  garnering  the  rich- 
est of  all  treasures  to  aid  you  in  prayer.  It  will  give 
a  copiousness  to  your  supplications,  confessions,  and 
thanksgivings,  which  no  other  language  can  supply. 
It  was  in  this  way  that  the  Psalmist  got  his  mind  and 
heart  so  richly  stored  with  divine  truth,  that  he 
could  say,  "  I  have  more  understanding  than  all  my 
teachers,  for  thy  testimonies  are  my  meditation." 

And  now,  dear  young  converts,  with  your  armor 
on  and  the  Bible  in  your  hands,  and  the  promised  aid 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  what  should  hinder  you  from 
growing  in  grace  and  divine  knowledge?  What 
other  help  can  you  need,  to  adorn  the  doctrine  of 
God  our  Saviour  in  the  discharge  of  your  religious 
duties  ?  The  field  of  Christian  progress  and  service 
which  you  are  just  entering,  is  a  very  wide  field. 
Your  whole  future  lives,  from  this  hour,  should  be 
filled  up  in  pressing  toward  the  mark  for  the  prize 
of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  doing 
all  the  good  you  can  on  the  way.    Let  me  exhort  you 


JOINING  THE  CHURCH.  369 

to  be  faithful  unto  death,  that  you  may  receive  the 
crown.  It  is  only  those  who  endure  to  the  end,  that 
shall  be  saved. 

I  can  only  glance  at  a  few  of  the  obligations  which 
your  Christian  profession  lays  upon  you.  Be  careful 
to  recommend  religion  by  your  consistent  example. 
Without  this,  your  profession  will  amount  to  but  very 
little.  Be  sure,  wherever  your  lot  may  be  cast,  that 
you  do  your  part  in  support  of  the  gospel,  and  just  as 
much  more  as  your  ability  will  allow,  to  supply  the 
lack  of  those  who  penuriously  withhold  their  part. 

Fail  not  punctually  and  devoutly  to  worship  God 
in  his  house  on  the  Sabbath.  Let  nothing  short  of 
some  providential  hinderance  ever  keep  you  away. 
Never  absent  yourselves,  if  you  can  help  it,  from  the 
weekly  prayer-meetings  of  the  church.  On  this  point, 
let  me  be  very  earnest.  Every  Christian  needs  the 
quickening  of  such  a  meeting,  at  least  once  a  week, 
between  the  Sabbaths.  So  far  as  I  can  recollect,  I 
never  knew  an  instance  of  apparent  growth  in  grace, 
by  a  professor  who  voluntarily  staid  away  from 
the  prayer-meetings ;  and  I  very  much  doubt  whether 
one  in  a  thousand  could  be  found.  In  the  first  place, 
it  shows  a  low  state  of  religion  in  the  soul  of  such  a 
church-member,  and  in  the  next  place  forfeits  the 
strengthening  of  his  faith  which  he  might  have 
received  in  the  precious  visits  of  the  Saviour.  You  all 
remember  the  case  of  Thomas — how  he  fell  into  a  sad 
state  of  unbelief,  by  being  absent  from  the  prayer- 
meetings  of  his  brethren,  when  Jesus  met  them  and 
comforted  their  desponding  hearts.     O  what  a  cutting 

rebuke,  when  at  the  next  meeting  he  said  to  Thomas, 

16* 


313  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

"Reach  hither  thy  finger,  and  behold  my  hands;  and 
reach  hither  thy  hand,  and  thrust  it  into  my  side ;  and 
be  not  faithless,  but  believing."  Beware  that  you  do 
not  thus  expose  yourselves  by  absence  from  the  stated 
prayer-meeting.  One  such  unnecessary  absence  may 
cost  you  the  hidings  of  your  Master's  face,  through 
many  a  long  month  of  doubt  and  declension. 

Never  excuse  yourselves  by  saying,  the  meetings 
are  so  dull  and  uninteresting  that  I  derive  no  profit 
from  them.  Are  they  cold  and  dull,  whose  fault  is  it  ? 
You  ought  to  be  there  with  warm  hearts,  to  make 
them  interesting.  When  called  on  to  pray,  never  ex- 
cuse yourselves,  though  at  first  you  should  not  be  able 
to  offer  more  than  a  few  short  petitions ;  if  offered  in 
sincerity,  depending  on  the  Holy  Spirit  for  help,  he 
will  ere  long  put  thoughts  into  your  hearts  and  words 
into  your  mouths,  with  a  fulness  and  freedom  of 
utterance  which  you  now  hardly  dare  to  hope  for. 

While  you  foster  all  the  moral  and  religious  inter- 
ests of  the  local  communities  where  God  may  appoint 
the  bounds  of  your  habitations,  and  set  your  faces 
as  a  flint  against  vice  in  every  form,  cast  your  eyes 
abroad  over  the  wide  world  lying  in  wickedness, 
and  ask  the  Lord  what  he  will  have  you  to  do  for  its 
enlightenment.  Pray  without  ceasing  for  the  spread 
of  the  gospel,  and  contribute  according  to  your 
largest  ability  to  Bible,  Missionary,  and  other  socie- 
ties, organised  for  the  purpose  of  turning  men  from 
darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan 
unto  God. 

And  so,  dear  friends,  I  might  go  on  to  specify 
many  more  of  the  imperative  duties  of  the  Christian 


JOINING  THE  CHURCH.  SU 

life ;  but  what  need  of  proceeding  further,  when  you 
have  your  instructions  so  clearly  written  out  in  the 
word  of  God,  which  he  has  put  into  your  hands  as 
the  man  of  your  counsel  to  guide  you  into  all  truth  ? 

Christ  has  brought  you  into  his  church  at  an 
eventful  period  of  its  history.  It  will  not  do  for  you 
to  rest  where  you  find  us  in  our  low  attainments.  You 
have  more  light  and  greater  privileges  than  most  of 
us  had  when  we  came  into  the  church.  "  Go  for- 
ward,'' is  the  command  of  your  great  and  glorious 
Leader.  He  requires,  he  expects  much  of  you,  as  his 
representatives  in  a  sinful  and  gainsaying  world. 
Ye  are  a  chosen,  a  highly  favored  generation,  that  ye 
should  "  show  forth  the  praises  of  Him  who  hath  called 
you  out  of  darkness  into  his  marvellous  light."  If  the 
true  children  of  God,  ye  are  "heirs  of  the  righteous- 
ness which  is  by  faith."  Therefore,  "  giving  all  dili- 
gence, add  to  your  faith  virtue,  and  to  virtue  know- 
ledge, and  to  knowledge  temperance,  and  to  temper- 
ance patience,  and  to  patience  godliness,  and  to  god- 
liness brotherly  kindness,  and  to  brotherly  kindness 
charity ;  for  if  these  things  be  in  you  and  abound,  ye 
shall  neither  be  barren  nor  unfruitful  in  the  know- 
ledge of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 


3t2  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

CHAPTER    IX. 
BRIEF  APPEALS. 

Having  glanced  at  the  obstacles  which  lie  in  the 
way  of  revivals,  and  what  should  be  done  to  "  prepare 
the  way  of  the  Lord/'  and  noticed  some  of  the  means 
which  by  God's  blessing  have  been  successfully  em- 
ployed in  promoting  them,  I  add  brief  sketches  of 
Appeals,  which  I  have  found  useful  in  successive 
stages  of  these  outpourings  of  the  Spirit.  I  do  not 
offer  them  as  models  to  my  younger  brethren,  much 
less  as  comprehending  all  the  topics  to  be  introduced 
in  a  revival,  but  as  casting  a  little  into  the  Lord's 
treasury  for  the  advancement  of  his  blessed  cause. 
Let  others  contribute  more  largely  from  the  richer 
stores  of  their  experience,  and  let  Christ  have  all  the 
glory.  He  knows  infinitely  better  than  we  do,  what 
should  be  done  to  secure  the  choicest  and  most  abun- 
dant spiritual  harvests,  and  I  doubt  not  those  who 
shall  come  after  us,  have  yet  much  to  learn  under  his 
infallible  teaching. 

"SIRS,  WHAT  MUST  I  DO  TO  BE  SAVED?" 

Never  was  this  question  more  earnestly  asked, 
than  by  the  Phillipian  jailor.  Who  he  was,  or  what 
had  been  his  antecedents,  we  are  not  informed,  and 
his  remarkable  conversion  is  the  last  we  hear  of 
him.  It  is  not  at  all  likely  that  he  had  ever  troubled 
himself  much  about  religion,  and  least  of  all  about  the 
new  religion,  which  was  everywhere  spoken  against. 


WHAT  MUST  I  DO  TO  BE  SAVED?  373 

He  needed  a  great  deal  more  instruction  than  could 
be  given  in  one  night.  And  when  he  asked  the  all- 
important  question,  "What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?" 
why  did  not  Paul  and  Silas  direct  him  to  take  up  the 
subject  in  earnest,  to  study  the  prophecies  which  had 
been  fulfilled  in  the  advent,  sufferings,  death,  and  res- 
urrection of  Christ,  through  whose  blood  and  right- 
eousness alone  he  could  be  saved  ?  Why  did  they  not 
point  out  something  which  he  must  do  preparatory  to 
a  saving  act  of  faith  in  Christ?  Why  did  they  not 
allow  him  some  little  time  at  least  for  serious  reflec- 
tion and  prayer?  Simply  because  they  had  no  author- 
ity for  any  such  indulgence,  and  no  delay  was  neces- 
sary. The  jailor  had  nothing  else  to  do,  but  to  repent 
and  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Then  and  there 
was  "  the  accepted  time."  He  might  die  before  morn- 
ing.    By  one  hour's  delay  he  might  lose  his  soul. 

And  so,  anxious  inquiring  sinner,  it  may  be  with 
you.  You  ask  just  as  the  jailor  did,  what  you  must 
do  to  be  saved ;  and  no  other  answer  can  safely  be 
given,  but  that  which  he  received,  "Believe  on  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved."  As  he 
closed  in  at  once,  both  with  the  condition  and  assur- 
ance, so  may  you.  There  is  nothing  more  in  your 
way  than  there  was  in  his — less  indeed,  for  you  are 
far  better  instructed  into  the  things  of  the  kingdom, 
than  we  have  any  reason  to  suppose  he  was.  You 
have  had  much  greater  advantages  for  knowing  your 
Master's  will,  than  he  had  ever  enjoyed.  Why  do 
you  linger  ?  Why  do  some  of  you  come  day  after  day 
to  your  religious  teachers,  asking  the  same  question? 
They  "  cannot  go  beyond  the  word  of  the  Lord,  to  say 


3U  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

less  or  more/"'  I  mean,  thev  cannot  give  you  any  other 
answer.  They  cannot  mention  any  duty  which  you 
must  perform  before  coming  to  Christ.  The  Chris- 
tian life  embraces  a  very  long  catalogue  of  duties. 
But  you  must  first  become  a  Christian,  before  you 
can  perform  any  of  them  in  an  acceptable  manner. 
"  Whatsoever  is  not  of  faith  is  sin."  It  may  be  good 
in  the  letter,  but  utterly  wanting  in  spirit.  You  are 
"  shut  up  to  the  faith." 

G-od  now  commands  you  to  repent — this  hour,  this 
moment — ^not  to-morrow.  There  is'  infinite  danger 
in  the  shortest  delay.  You  are  anxious.  The  Holy 
Spirit  is  striving  with  you.  By  this  one  precious 
hour's  resistance,  he  may  be  grieved  and  depart  for 
ever.  What  is  your  life  but  the  breath  in  your  nos- 
trils, which  may  be  stopped  before  you  leave  the 
room.  Your  reason  too,  how  slight  a  jar  may  shake 
it  from  its  throne.  "  Now,"  anxious  inquirer,  "  is  the 
accepted  time ;  behold,  now  is  the  day  of  salvation." 
If  some  important  duty  were  required  of  you,  demand- 
ing time  for  its  accomplishment,  you  might  delay.  If 
there  was  any  room  to  doubt  whether  Christ  will  ac- 
cept you  just  as  you  are,  you  might  with  some  show 
of  reason  ask  for  some  delay  to  make  yourself  better. 
If  you  were  not  perfectly  assured  that  Christ  will  ac- 
cept you  on  the  terms  propounded  to  the  trembling 
jailor,  the  case  would  be  different.  As  it  is,  there  is 
not  the  shadow  of  an  excuse  for  delay. 

You  would  not  treat  an  earthly  benefactor  as  you 
treat  the  greatest  and  best  Friend  you  have  in  the 
universe.  Were  you  in  critical  circumstances,  in  mo- 
mentary danger  of  some  fatal  temporal  calamity,  and 


COME  UNTO  ME.  3T5 

a  friend  were  to  step  in  and  say,  do  this  or  do  that, 
requiring  ever  so  much  effort,  you  would  not  hesitate 
a  moment,  although  he  might  possibly  change  his 
mind,  or  be  unable  to  fulfil  his  promise.  But  here 
you  are  with  the  question  on  your  lips,  "What  must 
I  do  to  be  saved  ?"  and  the  answer  sounding  in  your 
ears,  "Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou 
shalt  be  saved ;"  infinite,  truth  and  almighty  power 
stand  pledged  to  make  the  promise  instantly  good, 
upon  its  cordial  acceptance ;  and  do  you  yet  want 
more  time  ?  Christ  is  now  knocking  at  your  door, 
and  instead  of  hastening  to  let  him  in,  are  you  leav- 
ing him  to  stand  without  till  his  head  is  filled  with 
the  dew,  and  his  locks  with  the  drops  of  the  night. 
You  ask  what  you  shall  do  to  be  saved.  We  tell 
you,  in  the  very  words  of  Scripture ;  and  do  you  still 
remain  in  impenitence  and  unbelief?  We  cannot 
leave  you  here.  Oh,  when  will  you  close  in  with  the 
condition  and  the  promise?  To-day,  even  to-day, 
after  so  long  a  time,  if  you  will  hear  his  voice,  harden 
not  your  heart. 

"COME  UNTO  ME,  AND  I  WILL  GIVE  YOU  REST." 

What  a  blessed  invitation ;  and  to  whom  was  it 
addressed?  Not  to  the  self-righteous  scribes  and 
Pharisees.  They  would  have  rejected  it  with  scorn. 
Not  to  the  thoughtless  multitude  who  followed  Christ 
for  the  loaves  and  fishes.  It  was  addressed  to  those 
only,  and  there  were  probably  very  few,  who  were 
awakened  to  a  sense  of  their  guilt  and  danger,  who 
felt  the  burden  of  their  sins,  and  knew  not  where  to 
look  for  relief.     The  invitation  was  not  confined  to 


316  REYIVAL  MANUAL. 

them,  but  was  intended  for  the  encouragement  of  all 
sin-burdened  souls,  not  only  while  Christ  was  here 
in  the  flesh,  but  in  all  coming  ages.  Here  then  we 
have  the  persons  addressed  j  the  thing  to  be  done ;  and 
the  promise  annexed,  with  the  certainty  of  its  fulfil- 
ment. 

1.  The  persons  addressed:  Come  unto  me,  "all  ye 
that  labor  and  are  heavy-laden^'- — ^you,  careless  and  stupid 
sinner,  are  not  included!  You  are  in  no  condition 
to  value  the  blessing.  You  feel  no  burden  ;  and  till 
you  do,  how  can  you  apply  for  relief?  "  They  that 
be  whole  need  not  a  physician,  but  they  that  are 
sick."  And  they  must  believe,  they  mxa^i  feel  that  they 
are  sick.  Go  to  your  neighbor,  and  with  an  anxious 
tone  and  look  tell  him  that  a  very  distinguished  phy- 
sician has  just  arrived  in  town,  and  advise  him  to 
send  for  him  at  once.  He  will  stare  at  you,  and  ask 
you  what  you  mean.  "  I  am  not  sick.  I  feel  perfect- 
ly well ;  and  why  should  I  send  for  him,  or  any  other 
doctor  ?  Let  those  who  need  his  prescriptions  send 
for  him.  It  will  be  time  enough  for  me  when  I  am 
sick."  Or  suppose  your  neighbor  to  be  really  dis- 
eased, and  in  a  critical  state,  but  entirely  unconscious 
of  it ;  will  he  take  your  advice  ?  He  may  thank  you 
for  the  neighborly  kindness,  but  he  will  say,  "  I  feel 
as  well  as  ever."  He  must  first  be  convinced  that  he 
needs  the  physician,  before  he  will  apply  to  him. 

Just  so  with  the  careless  sinner :  he  is  not  "  heavy- 
laden  ;"  he  feels  no  burden ;  he  wants  no  help ;  he 
has  "need  of  nothing."  He  must  feel  that  he  is  a 
sinner,  that  he  needs  help;  he  must  be  anxious  to 
know  what  he  must  do  to  be  saved.    Till  then,  he 


COME  UNTO  ME.  37T 

excludes  himself  from  tlie  invitation.  But,  dear 
friend,  if  you  "labor  and  are  heavy-laden,"  if  you 
feel  that  you  are  "poor  and  wretched,  and  blind 
and  naked,  and  in  want  of  all  things,"  the  invita- 
tion, is  meant  for  you.  It  is  meant  for  all  who  feel 
their  need.  You  may  be  ready  to  say,  "I  am  so 
great  a  sinner,  I  have  so  long  turned  a  deaf  ear  to 
the  Saviour's  call,  that  I  dare  not  come.  How  can 
he  accept  me  at  this  late  hour?"  It  is  a  sad  and  ex- 
treme case,  to  be  sure.  It  is  a  wonder  that  God  has 
not  cut  you  off  with  all  your  sins  upon  your  head ; 
but  you  need  not  despair  even  now.  The  gracious 
invitation  is,  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and 
are  heavy-laden ;"  "  Come  now,  and  let  us  reason  to- 
gether, saith  the  Lord:  though  your  sins  be  as  scar- 
let, they  shall  be  white  as  snow ;  though  they  be  red 
like  crimsom,  they  shall  be  as  wool." 

2.  There  must  be  an  acceptance  of  the  invitation, 
or  it  can  avail  nothing.  You  must  come  to  Christ, 
not  bodily  as  those  who  needed  healing  did  when  he 
was  here  in  the  flesh.  This  you  cannot  do,  because, 
after  his  resurrection,  he  ascended  up  above  all  heav- 
ens. But  you  can  do  more ;  for  many  who  came  to 
him  personally  did  not  believe  on  him,  received  no 
spiritual  healing  by  it.  Sinners  have  this  great  ad- 
vantage now,  that  he  is  spiritually  present  in  every 
place,  especially  wherever  there  is  a  true  revival.  In 
the  sense  of  the  invitation,  you  can  come  to  him  at 
any  moment. 

And  what  is  it  to  come  ?  It  is  to  come  empty- 
handed  and  broken-hearted,  casting  away  all  other 
dependencies,  throwing  yourself  into  his  outstretched 


878  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

arms,  and  trusting  in  his  righteousness  and  atonement 
alone  for  pardon,  justification,  and  eternal  life.  This 
is  the  acceptance,  and  nothing  short  of  this  entire 
surrender  can  be  of  any  avail.  You  must  come  to 
Christ  just  in  this  way,  just  as  you  are,  or  you  will 
be  lost. 

3.  Come  thus  to  Christ,  and  the  promise,  "  I  will 
give  you  rest,'^  is  sure,  for  he  is-  not  slack  concerning 
any  of  his  promises.  He  will  lift  off  the  burden  from 
your  troubled  conscience.  He  will  relieve  your  anx- 
ious laboring  mind.  He  will  say,  Son,  daughter,  be 
of  good  cheer  ;  thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee.  Oh,  how 
many  can  testify  that  they  have  experienced  the  ful- 
filment of  the  promise  :  that  they  could  find  no  relief 
till,  with  Bunyan's  toiling  pilgrim,  they  came  to  the 
cross,  and  there  it  fell  off. 

And  now,  burdened  sinner,  what  can  we  more 
say  ?  What  need  we  say  more  ?  "  The  Spirit  and 
the  bride  say.  Come ;"  and  will  you  come  ?  Every  ob- 
stacle is  removed.  There  is  nothing  in  the  way  but 
your  own  obstinate  and  impenitent  heart.  Will  you 
come?  will  you,  or  will  you  stay  away  and  perish? 

"  Come,  ye  weary,  heavy-laden, 
Lost  and  ruined  by  the  fall  ; 
If  you  tarry  till  you  're  better, 
You  will  never  come  at  all. 

Not  the  righteous — 
Sinners  Jesus  came  to  call." 

"THE  CARNAL  HINDIS  ENMITY  AGAINST  GOD." 

What  is  meant  here  by  "the  carnal  mind?"  The 
true  answer  to  this  question  is  vital ;  and  is  too  plain 
to  be  mistaken  by  any  candid  reader  of  this  chapter. 


THE  CARNAL  MIND.  379 

The  caiiial  mind  is  directly  the  opposite  of  the  spiritual 
mind,  as  in  the  sixth  verse :  "  To  be  carnally  minded 
is  death,  but  to  be  spiritually  minded  is  life  and  peace." 
The  difference  in  a  religious  sense  is  as  great  as  that 
between  life  and  death  in  a  natural  sense.  It  is  the 
heart,  every  heart,  in  its  natural,  unregenerate  state. 
There  is  no  life  in  it.  Nay,  more,  as  the  state  of  the 
body  after  death  is  in  its  decay  loathsome,  and  as  it 
were  opposed  to  life,  so  the  carnal  mind  is  enmity 
against  God — not  only  entirely  destitute  of  love  to 
God,  but  in  a  state  of  actual  and  habitual  hostility  to 
him,  to  his  holy  character,  to  his  law  and  his  govern- 
ment. You  see  the  language  of  the  apostle  is  in  the 
superlative  degree,  inten^itive.  If  he  had  said,  the 
carnal  mind  is  opposed  to  God,  is  inimical  to  him, 
that  would  have  been  very  strong ;  but  it  is  enmity 
itself,  all  enmity. 

This  being  settled,  it  follows  as  a  matter  of  course, 
that  it  is  not  subject  to  his  law,  and  remaining  in  this 
state,  cannot  be.  It  is  impossible  in  the  nature  of 
things,  just  as  impossible  as  that  a  man  can  live  and 
move  so  long  as  he  is  dead.  An  enemy  may  be  rec- 
onciled and  become  a  friend.  The  most  inveterate 
hatred  may  be  subdued,  and  give  place  to  love ;  but 
till  that  radical  change  in  the  affections  takes  place, 
it  remains  enmity,  and  nothing  else.  It  is  not  subject 
to  the  law  of  God,  which  demands  the  heart,  "  neither 
indeed  can  be." 

And  the  conclusion  in  the  next  verse  irresistibly 
follows  :  "  So  then  they  that  are  in  the  flesh,"  in  this 
carnal  state  of  enmity,  "cannot  please  God."  They 
can  be  subdued,  they  can  be  changed,  they  can  be 


380  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

brought  into  the  opposite  state,  for  with  God  all 
things  are  possible ;  but  till  then,  whatever  they  may- 
do,  whatever  profession  of  attachment  to  him  they  may 
make,  he  can  have  no  pleasure  in  them.  He  can  look 
upon  them  only  as  enemies,  who  are  not  subject  to  his 
law,  neither  indeed  can  be. 

This,  my  impenitent  friends,  is  your  guilty  and 
alarming  condition — every  one  of  you.  There  are 
different  degrees  of  depravity,  different  degrees  of 
enmity  in  the  natural  heart ;  but  it  is  depravity,  it  is 
enmity  and  nothing  else.  There  is  no  true  love  to 
God  till  the  heart  is  changed.  Some  of  you  have  been 
awakened  during  this  revival ;  some  of  you  have  been 
more  or  less  anxious  for  a  good  while,  and  in  your 
unregenerate  state  you  can  do  many  things.  You  can 
read  your  Bible,  you  can  use  the  words  of  prayer, 
you  can  attend  all  the  meetings ;  you  can  break  off 
from  your  easily  besetting  sins,  and  lead  a  blameless 
life  in  the  sight  of  men  ;  you  may  be  more  exact  in 
all  the  external  duties  of  religion  than  some  profes- 
sors are ;  you  may  persuade  yourselves  that  you  are 
growing  better ;  but  whatever  you  may  do  in  your 
present  carnal  state,  you  cannot  please  God.  '•  My 
son,  give  me  thy  heart,'^  is  the  first  of  his  requirements ; 
he  will  accept  of  nothing  short ;  and  why  should  he  ? 
How  can  he  ?  You  are  in  a  state  of  rebellion.  You 
must  lay  down  your  arms.  You  must  come  to  the 
point  of  unconditional  submission.  You  must  feel 
that  God  is  right,  and  you  are  wrong ;  you  must  close 
in  with  his  offers  of  pardon  on  his  own  terms,  which 
are  nothing  short  of  repentance,  of  godly  sorrow  for 
sin,  and  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 


THE  CARNAL  MIND.  381 

This,  dear  friends,  is  the  true  state  of  the  case; 
how  can  you  help  seeing  it  ?  Do  what  else  you  will, 
how  can  a  holy,  sin-hating  God  be  pleased,  so  long  as 
you  withhold  your  hearts,  your  affections  from  him  ? 
Reading  the  Bible  is  a  duty,  prayer  is  a  duty,  attend- 
ing public  worship  and  other  religious  meetings  is  a 
duty,  outward  reformation  is  a  duty — all  that  you 
have  done,  and  more,  it  was  your  duty  to  do.  All  these 
externals  are  a  part  of  true  religion,  and  accepted  as 
such  when  the  heart  is  right.  Then  they  please  God. 
You  could  not  please  him  without  them.  Though 
you  could  multiply  them  a  hundred-fold,  without  faith 
and  repentance  it  would  avail  nothing.  "Whatsoever 
is  not  of  faith,  is  sin."  Will  you  say,  "If  this  is  so, 
all  my  prayer  and  striving,  whatever  I  do,  is  sin,  and 
I  may  just  as  well  leave  off  praying  and  striving — 
nay,  better,  as  it  is  only  making  my  condition  worse?" 
Do  such  thoughts  come  into  your  mind  ?  Reject  them 
at  once.  They  are  not  from  above,  but  from  beneath. 
Do  you  think  that  neglecting  all  these  means  of  grace 
would  please  God?  You  cannot  believe  it.  You 
know  it  would  displease  him  and  aggravate  your  guilt. 
The  truth  is,  you  are  shut  up.  You  cannot  go  back 
without  infinite  peril  to  your  soul.  And  you  cannot 
stay  where  you  are  without  adding  sin  to  sin.  You 
cannot  please  God  either  way.  Your  carnal  mind  is 
enmity  against  him,  is  not  subject  to  his  law,  neither 
indeed  can  be.  You  must  repent.  You  must  cast 
yourself  upon  the  mercy  of  God,  as  a  lost  sinner. 
Your  case  admits  of  no  delay. 

Only  one  word  more.  Were  it  possible  for  you  to 
go    to  heaven,  carrying  with  you  the  carnal  mind 


382  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

which  is  enmity  against  God,  what  would  be  your 
condition  ?  Could  you  be  happy  there  ?  Would  it 
be  heaven  to  you  ?  Impossible.  Perfect  love  to  God 
is  heaven  ;  perfect  enmity  is  hell )  and  must  be  every 
where,  and  for  ever  and  ever. 

"STRIVE  TO  ENTER  IN  AT  THE  STRAIT  GATE." 

This  is  a  very  urgent  and  alarming  exhortation. 
By  the  strait  or  narrow  gate,  is  meant  the  entrance 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  in  contrast  with  the 
wide  gate  and  broad  way  that  lead  to  destruction. 
That  those  who  make  no  efforts  to  enter,  should  fail, 
is  a  matter  of  course,  and  they  comprise  the  whole 
body  of  careless,  delaying  sinners.  But  it  is  startling 
to  hear  Christ  say,  that  even  many  who  "^ee/c  to  enter 
in,  shall  not  be  able'' — shall  fall  short  and  perish, 
after  all  their  seeking.  Why  shall  they  not  be  able  ? 
What  hinders  ?  Though  the  gate  is  narrow,  it  always 
stands  open  till  the  day  of  grace  is  past.  There  must 
be  some  strange  reason  or  reasons,  why  they  cannot 
enter  in  and  be  saved.  I  can  think  of  four,  at  least. 
There  may  be  others. 

Our  Saviour,  here,  does  not  mean  to  discourage 
seeking.  Far  from  it.  In  another  place  he  says, 
"  Seek,  and  ye  shall  find  ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened 
unto  you."  Without  seeking,  no  one  ever  entered, 
nor  ever  can.  It  must  then  depend  upon  the  kind  of 
seeking,  or  the  time,  or  both. 

The  first  reason  why  some  who  seek  to  enter  in 
shall  not  be  able,  is,  that  they  trust  in  their  own  good 
works  and  good  resolutions  to  save  them.  If  their  lives 
have  not  been  blameless,  they  reform.     They  break 


STRIVE  TO  ENTER  IN.  383 

ojff  from  sinful  habits.  They  "  do  many  things."  They 
want  to  be  saved,  and  they  strive  to  work  out  their 
own  salvation  by  the  strict  performance  of  external 
duties,  till  they  are  ready  to  ask,  with  the  young 
ruler,  ''What  lack  I  yet?"  Like  the  Pharisees  of 
old,  they  "  go  about  to  establish  their  own  righteous- 
ness, and  do  not  submit  themselves  to  the  righteous- 
ness of  God,"  to  the  plan  of  salvation  which  he  has 
ordained  and  proposed  for  their  acceptance.  This  is 
reason  enough  why  they  cannot  enter.  The  gate  is 
not  wide  enough  to  admit  them,  thickly  clad  with 
their  own  righteousness  ;  the  thicker,  the  greater  the 
difficulty  of  entering.  They  must  strip  their  rags  all 
off.  That  is,  they  must  utterly  renounce  all  depend- 
ence upon  their  own  righteousness  as  the  ground  of 
justification,  that  they  may  be  clothed  with  the  robe 
of  Christ's  righteousness.  This  way  of  seeking  sets 
aside  the  gospel  plan  altogether.  It  is  seeking  salva- 
tion by  the  door  of  the  law,  by  which  "  there  shall  be 
no  flesh  justified." 

A  second  reason  why  some  who  seek  salvation  can- 
not enter  the  kingdom  of  God,  is,  that  they  do  not  seek 
in  earnest.  They  are  awakened.  There  is  a  dreadful 
sound  in  their  ears.  They  feel  that  they  are  in  dan- 
ger of  being  lost,  and  must  do  something.  So  they 
break  away  from  their  careless  associates,  and  betake 
themselves  to  the  external  duties  of  religion.  They 
read  the  Bible,  they  punctually  attend  public  worship 
and  listen  to  preaching,  as  they  never  did  before. 
They  pray  in  secret  every  day  perhaps,  and  sometimes 
oftener.  They  attend  prayer-meetings,  and  perhaps  go 
to  inquiry  meetings.     They  are  seekers,  and  willing  to 


384  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

have  it  known  by  tlieir  impenitent  associates,  from 
whose  companionship  they  have  withdrawn.  They  seem 
to  be  so  much  engaged  for  a  time,  that  their  pious 
friends  entertain  strong  hopes  that  they  will  not  only 
seek,  but  find — that  they  will  press  into  the  kingdom  of 
God.  Still  they  do  not  ^^  strive  to  enter  in  at  the 
strait  gate."  They  are  not  half  so  much  in  earnest  as 
they  would  be  if  some  great  temporal  good  was  to  be 
gained,  and  could  not  be  secured  without  their  utmost 
efforts.  Then  you  would  see  them  in  earnest;  they 
would  not  turn  aside,  or  permit  themselves  to  be 
diverted  by  any  minor  interest,  till  the  desired  object 
was  obtained.  And  how  can  they  expect  to  win  the 
heavenly  crown,  while  they  are  so  much  less  in 
earnest  ?  "  The  kingdom  of  heaven  suffereth  violence, 
and  the  violent  take  it  by  force." 

A  third  reason  why  many  who  seek  to  enter  fall 
short  is  that  they  do  not  persevere.  For  a  while  they 
seem  to  be  all  engaged  to  obtain  the  prize.  You 
would  think  their  entrance  almost  certain.  They 
seem  to  be  already  at  the  gate,  and  just  ready  to  go 
in.  But  they  are  not  so  near  as  we  supposed.  They 
vacillate.  They  hear  the  word  with  joy,  but  the  good 
seed  falls  upon  stony  ground,  where,  though  it  springs 
up  and  looks  green,  it  takes  no  root.  In  the  sense  in 
which  Christ  addressed  the  young  ruler,  they  are  "not 
far  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  but  they  never  reach 
it,  because  they  do  not  persevere.  They  find  it  so  much 
harder  than  they  expected  to  get  in  at  the  narrow  gate, 
that  they  give  it  up,  gradually  leave  off  seeking,  and 
finally  sink  down  into  deeper  stupidity  than  ever. 
A  fourth  reason  why  many  who  seek  to  enter  in 


STRIVE  TO  ENTER  IN.  385 

shall  not  be  able  is  that  they  seek  too  late.  I  know 
impenitent  sinners  flatter  themselves  that  it  can 
never  be  too  late  as  long  as  life  lasts,  and  they  point 
us  to  the  thief  on  the  cross,  who  repented  in  the  last 
agonies  of  crucifixion.  So  he  did,  and  we  do  not 
deny  the  possibility  of  any  sinner's  conversion  at  the 
last  hour,  on  his  death-bed  ;  but  that  it  is  then  too  late 
for  thousands  who  rely  upon  some  such  miracle  of 
grace,  does  not  admit  of  doubt.  Though  we  may  not 
know  the  hour  when  the  day  of  grace  ends,  it  may 
end  days  and  weeks,  if  not  years,  before  the  sinner 
dies.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  the  unpardonable  sin, 
and  it  may  be  committed  we  know  not  how  long  be- 
fore death.  It  was  too  late  for  Judas  to  seek  for- 
giveness, after  he  had  betrayed  his  Master.  He  could 
cast  down  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  exclaiming  in  an 
agony  of  remorse,  "I  have  betrayed  the  innocent 
blood,"  but  it  was  the  remorseful  repentance  of  de- 
spair.    He  went  away  and  hanged  himself. 

So  that  awful  denunciation  in  the  first  chapter  of 
Proverbs :  "  Because  I  have  called  and  ye  refused,  I 
have  stretched  out  my  hand  and  no  man  regarded," 
therefore  "I  will  laugh  at  your  calamity,  I  will  mock 
when  your  fear  cometh.  Then  shall  they  call  upon 
me,  but  I  will  not  answer ;  they  shall  seek  me  early, 
but  they  shall  not  find  me."  It  was  too  late  j  the  di- 
vine forbearance  was  exhausted. 

So  it  may  be,  and  so  we  have  reason  to  fear  it  is, 
with  many  hardened  sinners  under  the  gospel.  The 
time  comes  when  it  is  too  late  to  call.  The  die  is 
cast.  Nothing  remaineth  but  a  fearful  looking  for  of 
judgment  and  fiery  indignation. 

Rev.  Sketches.  It 


386  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

But  aside  from  all  this,  that  with  many  who  seek 
it  will  be  too  late,  is  settled  by  our  Saviour  himself 
in  the  words  immediately  following  those  upon  which 
I  have  been  speaking.  Let  us  take  them  in  their  con- 
nection. "  Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate ;  for 
many,  I  say  unto  you,  will  seek  to  enter  in,  and  shall 
not  be  able.  When  once  the  master  of  the  house  is 
risen  up  and  hath  shut  to  the  door,  and  ye  begin  to 
stand  without  and  to  knock  at  the  door,  saying.  Lord, 
Lord,  open  unto  us  ;  and  he  shall  answer,  and  say  unto 
you,  I  know  you  not  whence  ye  are  :  then  he  shall 
say,  Depart  from  me,  all  ye  workers  of  iniquity."  Ah, 
it  was  too  late.  However  long  they  might  have  been 
seeking,  the  day  of  grace  was  past— the  door  was  shut. 
Heaven  was  lost.  So  it  will  be  with  many,  we  have 
reason  to  fear,  among  us ;  their  seeking  will  be  too 
late. 

You  will  not  wonder,  my  friends,  that  I  so  address 
you  at  this  time.  I  could  think  of  nothing  more  ap- 
propriate to  the  present  crisis.  G-od  is  pouring  out 
his  Spirit.  Some,  we  trust,  have  entered  in  at  the 
strait  gate,  and  are  rejoicing  in  hope.  But  do  not 
others  of  you  belong  to  the  class  of  seekers  whose 
case  I  have  described?  You  are  not  indifferent  spec- 
tators of  what  the  Lord  is  doing  among  us.  You  feel 
that  you  as  well  as  your  friends  have  a  personal  in- 
terest to  secure.  You  want  to  be  saved.  You  feel 
that  you  are  in  danger  of  being  lost,  and  you  are 
seeking  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate.  But  how? 
What  is  the  reason  that  you  have  not  succeeded,  as 
well  as  others?  If  you  are  trying  to  establish  a  right- 
eousness of  your  own,  if  you  expect  in  the  least  de- 


STRIVE  TO  ENTER  IN.  387 

gree  to  merit  salvation  by  your  good  works,  that  is 
reason  enough.  Though  you  could  multiply  them 
ever  so  much,  though  you  could  pile  them  up  to  the 
skies,  and  live  a  thousand  years  to  do  it  in,  it  would 
not  aid  you  at  all.  The  righteousness  of  Christ  is  the 
only  ground  of  justification  before  God.  Good  works 
follow  as  the  fruits — ^they  never  go  before  a  saving 
change  as  the  procuring  cause,  or  reason.  "  The  bed 
is  shorter  than  that  a  man  can  stretch  himself  on 
it;  and  the  covering  narrower  than  that  he  can 
wrap  himself  in  it." 

Do  you  belong  to  another  class  of  seekers,  who 
have  given  up  the  hope  of  being  saved  by  their  works, 
but  are  not  more  than  half  in  earnest  ?  Is  this  your 
state,  dear  friend?  Then  you  are  in  an  evil  case 
indeed.  With  all  your  half-hearted  seeking,  you  are 
nothing  better,  but  rather  grow  worse;  for  you  are 
commanded  to  "strive"  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate, 
which  you  are  not  doing  at  all.  Your  own  conscience 
testifies  that  you  are  not  half  so  much  in  earnest  as 
you  have  sometimes  been  to  secure  worldly  interests 
of  no  comparative  value.  Perchance  you  have  risen 
early  and  sat  up  late,  and  ate  the  bread  of  careful- 
ness, and  deprived  yourself  of  sleep,  for  fear  of  not 
gaining  your  object.  You  left  no  stone  unturned, 
you  would  not  rest  day  or  night,  so  long  as  you  was 
in  danger  of  losing  your  property  by  delay,  or  for 
lack  of  any  possible  effort  to  secure  the  title.  But 
here  you  are  seeking  indeed — reading  your  Bible, 
attending  meetings,  and  using  other  means  of  grace, 
hoping  you  shall  feel  more,  and  then  seek  more  ear- 
nestly, and  so  at  last  obtain.     Alas,  you  are  deceiving 


388  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

yourself.  Oh,  when  will  you  be  in  real  earnest  ?  When 
will  you  seek  the  Lord  so  as  to  find  him?  Now  he  is 
near,  and  waiting  to  be  gracious.  Call  upon  him  to 
help  you ;  strive  to  enter  in,  or  you  will  as  certainly 
perish,  as  if  you  had  remained  utterly  indifferent  to 
this  hour. 

Have  any  of  you  been  seeking  without  finding, 
and  are  you  tempted  to  give  it  up  ?  Are  you  already 
beginning  to  relax,  to  say  in  your  heart,  It  is  of  no 
use  to  seek  any  longer;  I  have  tried  and  tried  to 
become  a  Christian,  and  it  does  no  good.  "Why 
should  I  wait  for  the  Lord  any  longer?"  Yes,  you 
have  tried,  but  it  has  been  in  your  own  strength. 
You  have  been  seeking,  but  not  so  as  to  find ;  and  you 
never  will  find,  so  long  as  you  rest  in  mere  seeking ; 
and  never,  if  you  give  over.  You  must  seek  salva- 
tion, but  it  must  be  with  an  earnestness  which  you 
have  not  yet  felt.  You  must  ''strive'^  to  enter  in  at 
the  strait  gate.  The  original  here  is  a  great  deal 
stronger  than  the  translation.  The  word  is  agonize 
to  enter  in.  Summon  all  the  energies  of  your  awakened 
soul ;  let  them  be  concentrated  in  the  anguish  of  the 
sharpest  pangs  of  an  awakened  conscience.  Strive 
with  all  the  agony  of  a  broken  and  contrite  heart. 
Cast  yourself  at  once  upon  the  mere  mercy  of  God, 
through  Jesus  Christ,  and  he  will  save  you.  His 
blood  cleanseth  from  all  sin.  His  arm  is  mighty  to 
save.  0  perishing  sinner,  why  do  you  linger,  griev- 
ing the  Holy  Spirit  more  and  more  every  hour?  Oh,  to 
perish,  after  all,  with  those  who  seek  to  enter  in  and 
shall  not  be  able.  What  an  infinite  loss  !  Infinite ; 
infinite  I 


CHRIST  THE  PHYSICIAN.  389 

''SHE  WAS  NOTHING  BETTER,  BUT  RATHER 
GREW  WORSE." 
This  was  the  pitiable  condition  of  a  woman  in  a 
crowd  of  people  on  the  west  side  of  the  lake  of  Gali- 
lee, where  they  were  waiting  for  the  return  of  Jesus 
from  Gradara,  lying  on  the  opposite  shore.  She  had 
long  been  afflicted  with  a  wasting  disease ;  had  spent 
all  her  living  upon  many  physicians ;  had  gone  from 
one  to  another,  still  hoping  for  a  cure,  till  their  skill 
was  exhausted ;  and  "  she  was  nothing  better,  but 
rather  grew  worse."  Despairing  of  any  relief  from 
the  physicians,  she  in  her  great  extremity  pressed 
through  the  throng  till  she  could  touch  the  hem  of 
Christ's  outer  garment ;  for  she  said,  If  I  may  touch 
but  his  clothes,  I  shall  be  whole. 

Here  was  a  case  of  strong  faith  under  the  most 
discouraging  circumstances.  Though  she  had  no  prom- 
ise of  a  cure,  and  it  does  not  appear  that  Christ  had 
ever  seen  or  spoken  to  her  before,  she  believed  not 
only  that  he  had  power  to  heal  her,  but  that  in  some 
mysterious  way  that  power  would  be  communicated 
through  a  mere  touch  of  the  hem  of  his  garment. 
Great  indeed  was  her  faith,  and  she  was  not  disap- 
pointed. Straightway  the  fountain  of  her  blood  was 
dried  up,  and  she  felt  in  her  body  that  she  was  heal- 
ed of  that  plague  ;  and  how  was  it  ?  "  Jesus  imme- 
diately knowing  in  himself  that  virtue  had  gone  out 
of  him,  turned  about  in  the  press,  and  said,  Who 
touched  my  clothes?  Then  the  woman,  fearing  and 
trembling,  fell  down  before  him,  and  told  him  all  the 
truth."  She  doubtless  expected  to  be  rebuked  for  her 
temerity.    But  no ;  He  smiled  upon  her,  and  said, 


390  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

not  woman,  but,  "  Daughter,  tliy  faith  hath  made  thee 
whole ;  go  in  peace,  and  be  whole  of  thy  plague." 

This  remarkable  incident  in  the  life  and  miracles 
of  our  Saviour  strikingly  represents  the  case  of  an 
awakened  sinner  who,  instead  of  coming  directly  to 
Christ  to  be  healed,  applies  first  to  many  other  phyd- 
dans  for  relief;  who,  in  other  words,  resorts  to  all 
the  expedients,  uses  all  the  means  he  can  think  of  to 
obtain  peace  and  pardon.  He  has  such  a  sense  of 
his  danger  that  he  cannot  rest.  He  must  be  doing 
something  to  make  himself  better,  and  conciliate  the 
favor  of  God.  He  begins  to  break  off  his  sinful  hab- 
its; withdraws  from  his  wicked  companions;  reads 
his  Bible ;  attends  public  worship,  and  listens  as  he 
never  did  before  to  the  preaching  of  the  word;  but 
he  gets  no  relief:  he  cannot  rest  here;  he  begins  to 
call  upon  God,  he  attends  the  prayer-meetings,  he 
makes  his  feelings  known  to  some  pious  friend,  and 
is  resolved  to  do  as  well  as  he  can,  hoping  thereby  to 
make  some  amends  for  the  past,  and  render  himself 
more  worthy  of  the  divine  favor.  But  neither  will 
this  do.  He  finds  no  rest.  Rather,  his  distress  in- 
creases ;  and  what  more  can  he  do  ?  He  is  more  and 
more  afraid  he  shall  be  lost;  and  if  the  Spirit  of 
God  continues  to  strive  with  him,  he  repeats  and  re- 
doubles his  efforts,  reads  his  Bible  more,  prays  oftener, 
attends  more  meetings,  and  resolves  to  be  more  exact 
in  the  performance  of  every  religious  duty.  In  this 
way  he  flatters  himself  that  he  is  making  some  prog- 
ress towards  securing  the  favor  of  God.  He  is  sure 
he  is  a  great  deal  better  than  he  used  to  be,  and  can- 
not think  that  God  will  cast  him  off  after  doing  so 


CHRIST  THE  PHYSICIAN.  391 

many  things.  He  says  he  has  done  all  he  can,  and 
tries  to  persuade  himself  that  it  would  be  unjust  ; 
especially  as,  if  he  has  not  done  enough,  he  is  ready 
to  do  more,  to  make  any  sacrifice  however  great,  to 
secure  the  salvation  of  his  soul. 

Thus,  instead  of  submitting  himself  to  God,  he  has 
all  along  been  trying  to  build  up  a  righteousness  of 
his  own.  He  has  been  trusting  in  his  outward  refor- 
mation, in  his  prayers,  in  his  religious  observances. 
Or  in  other  cases,  like  the  young  man  in  the  gospel, 
he  is  ready  to  say,  "All  these  things  have  I  kept  from 
my  youth  up ;  what  lack  I  yet  ?" 

Now  I  do  not  say  that  the  process  which  I  have 
been  describing  is  the  only  way  in  which  sinners  are 
led  to  Christ,  or  are  left  to  quench  the  Holy  Spirit. 
I  know  it  is  not.  Such  cases,  however,  are  not  mi- 
common  in  revivals  of  religion.  There  may  be  at 
least  one  such  person  present  in  this  meeting;  and, 
dear  friend,  what  shall  I  say  to  you?  You  have  "done 
many  things,"  When  one  has  failed,  you  have  tried 
another,  and  then  another.  You  have,  so  to  speak, 
applied  to  many  physicians,  and  you  have  flattered 
yourself  that  you  were  growing  better.  You  probably 
do  still ;  but  you  are  not  healed.  You  think  your- 
self nearer  the  kingdom  of  heaven  than  you  was 
months  or  weeks  ago ;  and  so  you  are  nearer  in  one 
sense,  if  you  ever  get  there — not  that  you  are  better 
prepared  for  heavem  On  the  contrary,  you  are  noth- 
ing better,  but  rather  growing  Avorse.  You  are  more 
guilty,  in  the  sight  of  God,  than  you  was  when  first 
awakened ;  and  instead  of  growing  better,  you  are 
growing  worse  every  day.     Does  this  startle  you  ?    I 


89a  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

wish  it  might.  Do  you  ask  how  it  can  be,  when  yon 
have  broken  off  from  bad  habits,  and  are  reading  the 
Bible  and  praying  every  day,  and  attending  all  the 
meetings,  and  striving  to  do  better,  and  be  better  ? 
Are  you  ready  to  say,  "If  all  I  have  done  is  to  go 
for  nothing,  I  don^t  see  how  I  can  ever  be  saved  ?" 
Oh,  my  friend,  you  never  can  be  saved  in  this  way.  A 
thousand  times  as  many  prayers  and  tythings  would 
not  save  you.  The  fatal  mistake  is,  that  you  have 
been  "going  about  to  establish  your  own  righteous- 
ness.'' You  have  been  building  upon  your  own  works 
and  good  resolutions. 

Now,  I  do  not  say  that  you  have  been  growing 
worse  faster  since  your  attention  was  called  up,  than 
you  would  have  done,  had  you  remained  indifferent 
to  this  hour,  under  all  the  privileges  that  you  have 
enjoyed.  I  do  not  know.  It  is  not  for  me  to  strike 
the  balance  between  the  guilt  of  utter  indifference  at 
such  a  time  as  this,  and  the  guilt  of  resting  where  you 
now  are.  But  I  am  afraid  that  even  a  sorer  condem- 
nation awaits  you,  if  you  fall  short  of  heaven ;  for  the 
Spirit  of  God  has  been  striving  with  you ;  you  have 
not  submitted  to  his  righteousness ;  and  must  not  the 
guilt  of  sinning  on  from  week  to  week,  or  from  day 
to  day  under  these  strivings,  be  more  aggravated  ? 
May  not  this  be  your  case  ?  Instead  of  growing  bet- 
ter with  all  your  doings,  may  you  not  have  been 
growing  worse  faster  than  ever  ?  I  do  not  see  how 
it  can  be  otherwise.     Can  you  see  ? 

But  suppose  that,  in  the  sight  of  God,  there  is  no 
such  aggravation.  Let  us  look  at  your  case  in  the 
most  favorable  light  possible.     You  will  not  for  a 


CHRIST  THE  PHYSICIAN.  393 

moment  claim  that  you  have  committed  no  sin  since 
your  attention  was  first  arrested.  You  will  admit, 
that  you  have  sinned  more  or  less,  in  thought,  word 
or  deed,  every  day ;  and  if  so,  then  you  are  no  better 
than  when  you  began,  but  worse.  It  must  be  so  ;  for 
all  your  sins,  up  to  that  time,  stand  charged  against 
you  just  as  they. were.  Not  one  of  them  has  been 
truly  repented  of ;  not  one  of  them  has  been  pardoned ; 
and  now  there  is  this  addition  to  the  long  black  cata- 
logue. You  are  therefore  nothing  better,  but  have 
rather  been  growing  worse  all  the  time.  There  is  no 
escaping  from  this  conclusion,  alarming  as  it  is. 

And  now,  dear  friend,  what  will  you  do  next? 
How  much  more  time  will  you  waste  in  trying  to 
build  up  a  righteousness  of  your  own  ?  And  suppose 
you  could  build  it  ever  so  high  on  your  sandy  foun- 
dation, what  would  it  avail  when  the  floods  come,  and 
the  winds  blow  and  beat  upon  it? 

Of  all  diseases,  that  of  the  heart  is  the  most  alarm- 
ing and  fatal.  The  most  skilful  physician  can  do 
nothing  with  it.  He  cannot  reach  it.  This  is  your 
disease.  Your  heart  is  corrupt  to  the  very  core.  No 
human  skill  can  stay  the  plague.  Yet,  blessed  be  God, 
you  need  not  despair.  There  is  oxE  Physician  who 
can  cure  you,  and  would  have  done  it  long  ago,  had 
you  felt  that  your  case  was  desperate,  and  applied  to 
him.  It  is  a  wonder  that  you  are  not  dead  ;  but  still 
his  infinite  compassion  yearns  over  you.  And  will 
you  not  follow  the  example  of  that  poor  woman,  who 
had  spent  all  her  living  upon  many  physicians,  and 
was  nothing  better,  but  rather  grew  worse  ?  This  is 
exactly  your  case.  Will  you  not,  as  it  were,  press 
IT* 


394  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

through  the  crowd  this  very  evening,  and  in  the  exer- 
cise of  like  faith  touch  the  hem  of  Christ's  garment, 
that  you  may  be  healed?  Do  this,  and  virtue  will 
instantly  go  out  of  him,  and  he  will  say,  Son,  or 
daughter,  thy  faith  hath  made  thee  whole. 

"And  is  this  all?"  methinks  I  hear  you  trem- 
blingly ask.  "  Casting  away  all  my  dependences, 
may  I  come  to  Christ  the  great  Physician,  and  be 
healed  at  once?"  Yes,  this  is  all.  Strange,  incred- 
ible as  it  may  seem,  nothing  else  is  required.  No 
worthiness,  no  fitness  to  come.  Simply  "believe  on 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved." 
Embrace  him  as  a  divine  and  almighty  Saviour. 
Receive  him  by  faith  as  all  your  salvation  and  all  your 
desire,  and  your  sins  shall  be  blotted  out,  in  room 
of  the  filthy  rags  cast  for  ever  away.  You  shall  be 
clothed  with  the  robe  of  his  righteousness,  be  justified 
through  the  merits  of  Christ,  and  have  a  new  song 
put  into  your  mouth,  even  praise  to  our  God. 

And  now,  dear  friend,  what  do  you  say  to  all  this  ? 
Do  you  believe  that  the  way  to  be  saved  is  so  clear, 
so  simple,  and  can  you  remain  any  longer  outside  of 
the  crowd  that  is  pressing  upon  Jesus  to  be  healed — 
merely  looking  on  and  wondering,  while  your  spirit- 
ual disease  is  making  steady  progress  towards  a 
fatal  termination?  It  must  not  be.  Your  life,  your 
soul  is  too  precious  to  be  thus  thrown  away.  You 
must  press  your  way  through  the  throng,  that  you 
too  may  touch  the  hem  of  Christ's  garment  and  be 
healed.  Will  you ;  will  you  do  it  now,  this  very  hour, 
this  very  moment  ? 


A  CONVENIENT  SEASON.  395 

'«G0  THY  WAY  FOR  THIS  TIME:  WHEN  I  HAVE 
A  CONVENIENT  SEASON,  I  WILL  CALL  FOR 
THEE." 

This,  you  know,  was  the  promise  extorted  from 
Felix,  the  Eoman  governor  of  Judea,  under  a  ser- 
mon delivered  by  Paul,  the  prisoner  of  Jesus  Christ, 
brought  to  his  bar  by  the  Jews,  not  to  preach,  but  to 
be  judged  and  condemned.  It  was  an  extraordinary 
spectacle.  There  sat  the  judge  in  his  purple,  and 
there  stood  his  prisoner  in  bonds,  and  under  the  fierce 
accusations  of  his  enemies  thirsting  for  his  blood. 

At  the  first  hearing,  Paul's  masterly  defence  made 
such  an  impression  upon  the  mind  of  Felix,  that  he 
adjourned  the  trial,  that  he  might  inquire  into  the 
case  more  perfectly  for  a  new  hearing,  and  this  was 
the  day  fixed  upon.  He  sent  for  Paul,  and  strange  to 
say,  instead  of  going  on  with  the  trial,  as  the  Jews 
expected,  he  heard  his  prisoner  concerning  the  faith 
in  Christ,  It  must  have  been  a  Divine  impulse  upon 
the  mind  of  this  heathen  judge,  which  gave  so  unex- 
pected a  turn  to  the  hearing.  And  as  Paul,  taking 
advantage  of  it,  reasoned  of  righteousness,  temper- 
ance, and  judgment,  Felix  trembled,  and  answered, 
"  Go  thy  way  for  this  time :  when  I  have  a  conven- 
ient season,  I  will  call  for  thee." 

And  why  did  Felix  tremble  before  his  prisoner, 
as  if  he  himself  had  been  suddenly  arraigned  before  an 
infinitely  higher  bar  ?  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  he 
was  awakened  by  the  Spirit  of  God  to  an  awful 
sense  of  his  guilt  and  danger  ;  nothing  else  could  have 
made  him  tremble,  especially  in  such  a  public  presence. 
He  trembled  because  he  could  not  help  it.  The  appeal 


396  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

roused  his  conscience,  and  overmastered  his  pride  of 
office  and  self-control.  But  alas,  it  did  not  bring  him 
to  a  decision  to  embrace  Christianity,  to  repent  of  his 
sins  and  put  himself  at  once  under  the  further  teach- 
ing of  the  apostle ;  but  so  powerful  was  the  impres- 
sion, that  he  could  not  altogether  dismiss  the  subject ; 
and  so,  to  make  a  compromise,  he  again  adjourned  the 
trial,  and  turning  to  Paul,  said,  "  Go  thy  way  for 
this  time  :  when  I  have  a  convenient  season,  I  will 
call  for  thee."  It  is  probable  that  he  really  intended, 
at  some  future  time,  and  when  he  should  be  more 
at  leisure,  to  receive  further  instruction.  But  there 
is  no  evidence  that  he  ever  did — that  the  conven- 
ient season  ever  arrived.  The  contrary  is  evident 
from  the  fact,  that  though  he  often  sent  for  Paul,  it 
was  in  some  way  to  get  money  from  him,  rather  than 
further  instruction ;  and  that,  failing  in  this,  when  he 
was  superseded  in  the  government  by  Festus  two 
years  after,  "willing  to  show  the  Jews  a  pleasure,  he 
left  Paul  bound."  0  Felix,  Felix,  why  didst  thou 
quench  the  Holy  Spirit  ?  Hadst  thou  cherished  the 
convictions  which  made  thee  tremble,  thou  mightest 
have  been  saved ;  but  ah,  that  fatal  procrastination ! 
The  convenient  season  never  came ;  and  where  art 
thou  now  ? 

This  melancholy  case  of  Felix  strikingly  repre- 
sents that  of  thousands  who  sit  under  the  sound  of 
the  Gospel ;  and  this  is  the  reason  why  I  have  taken 
it  as  the  basis  of  an  earnest  appeal  at  this  time. 
Hardly  any  thing  is  more  common,  and  nothing  is 
more  dangerous,  during  a  revival  of  religion,  than 
this  putting  off  the  subject  to   a  more  convenient 


A  CONYENIENT  SEASON.  89t 

season.  I  have  met  with  many  such  cases  ;  and  who 
that  has  had  much  experience  in  revivals,  has  not? 
A  sinner  is  alarmed  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  under  some 
powerful  appeal  from  the  pulpit,  and  like  Felix,  he 
trembles.  The  danger  of  his  condition  stares  him  in 
the  face.  His  guilt  has  been  clearly  set  before  him, 
and  his  conscience  testifying  against  him,  urges  him  to 
immediate  repentance.  There  is  a  great  struggle  in 
his  mind.  On  the  one  hand,  he  is  not  ready  to  yield, 
and  on  the  other  he  dare  not  dismiss  the  subject  for 
ever.  So  he  resorts  to  a  compromise.  He  virtually 
says  to  the  Spirit,  who  is  striving  with  him,  "  I  cannot 
yield  now,  I  am  very  busy  ;  I  will  think  seriously 
of  it  as  soon  as  I  am  more  at  leisure.  Go  thy  way 
for  this  time  :  when  I  have  a  convenient  season,  I  will 
call  for  thee."  Thus  he  grieves  away  the  Holy 
Spirit.  The  convenient  time  never  comes,  and  he  dies 
in  his  sins. 

Fellow-sinner,  is  not  this  your  case  ?  Has  not 
God  awakened  you  ?  Have  you  not  been  urged  to  an 
immediate  decision  5  and  instead  of  yielding,  have  you 
not  tried  to  quiet  your  conscience  with  the  hope  that 
you  should  find  the  more  convenient  season  on  which 
Felix  fatally  rested  ?  Is  not  this  your  case  now  ? 
Are  you  not  saying  in  your  heart,  "  Go  thy  way  for 
this  time ;"  and  promising  yourself  that  you  shall 
have  a  better  opportunity  ?  If  so,  let  me  earnestly 
expostulate  with  you.  We  cannot  go  our  way,  we 
cannot  consent  to  let  you  alone,  upon  a  future  indefinite 
promise.  Nothing  can  be  more  delusive,  or  danger- 
ous. If  you  are  not  ready,  after  so  long  a  time,  to 
give  your  heart  to  God,  when  will  you  be  ?    If  you 


898  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

send  us  away  now,  as  Felix  did  the  apostle,  when 
shall  we  call  again?  Shall  it  be  to-morrow?  If 
that  is  too  soon,  shall  it  be  next  day  ?  shall  it  be  a 
week  hence?  When  shall  it  be  ?  This  trusting  to  a 
more  convenient  season  will  never  do.  Appoint  the 
time  when  you  will  not  only  listen  to  us,  but  repent 
at  the  foot  of  the  cross — and  shall  we  then  go  and  tell 
our  Master,  that  though  you  are  not  quite  ready,  you 
are  in  a  hopeful  way  ;  that  you  are  making  some  prog 
ress ;  that  you  have  done  talking  about  a  more  con- 
venient time ;  that  we  have  your  promise,  that  you 
will  repent  to-morrow,  and ? 

But  no  ;  what  am  I  saying  ?  I  take  it  all  back. 
You  have  no  right  to  set  us  a  future  time,  and  we 
have  no  right  to  ask  it.  There  are  many  reasons 
why  no  such  compromise  can  be  allowed.  God  says, 
"  JVbwj " — ^not  to-morrow — "  nmjo  is  the  day  of  salvation." 
If  you  wait  till  to-morrow,  God  may  finally  withdraw 
his  Holy  Spirit,  and  then  it  will  be  all  over  with  you. 
Every  hour's  delay  is  infinitely  dangerous.  And 
again,  dear  friend,  what  promise  have  you  that  you 
shall  live  through  another  night ;  or  that  if  spared, 
your  reason  may  not  be  taken  from  you  by  some 
sudden  and  mortal  sickness?  Let  that  voice  ring  in 
your  ears,  "  Boast  not  thyself  of  to-morrow  ;  for  thou 
knowest  not  what  a  day  may  bring  forth." 

And  still  once  more,  the  longer  you  delay,  the 
harder  will  it  be  to  submit  to  Christ,  to  break  off 
your  sins  and  make  your  peace  with  Him.  So  far 
from,  getting  any  better  prepared  by  delay,  you  are  a 
greater  sinner  to-day  than  you  was  yesterday,  and  if 
you  live,  you  will  be  a  greater  sinner  to-morrow  than 


ALMOST  PERSUADED.  399 

you  are  to-day.  Give  your  resolutions  of  becoming 
a  Christian  at  some  future  day  to  the  winds.  They 
are  good  for  nothing.  They  are  worse.  They  quiet 
and  deceive  you.  There  will  be  no  more  "  convenient 
season''  than  the  present. 

"ALMOST  THOU  PERSUADEST  ME  TO  BE  A 
CHRISTIAN." 

Agrippa  was  the  son  of  that  Herod  who  behead- 
ed John  and  imprisoned  Peter.  With  the  title  of 
king  under  the  Roman  emperors,  he  administered  the 
provincial  government  of  Cesarea,  and  several  of  the 
annexed  districts.  Paul  having  been  sent  down  un- 
der arrest  from  Jerusalem,  charged  by  the  Jews  with 
the  crimes  of  apostasy  and  sedition,  was  on  the  first 
convenient  day  arraigned  for  trial ;  and  in  so  masterly 
a  manner  did  he  defend  himself  before  the  king,  that 
when  he  came  to  make  that  bold  and  remarkable 
appeal,  "  King  Agrippa,  believest  thou  the  prophets? 
I  know  that  thou  believest,"  Agrippa  was  so  over- 
powered by  it,  that  he  answered  Paul,  "  Almost  thou 
persuadest  me  to  be  a  Christian  J  ^ 

Here  we  must  carefully  distinguish.  Agrippa 
was  not  even  an  almost  Christian.  Saving  the  con- 
viction of  the  moment,  he  was  as  far  from  it  as  ever. 
He  was  only  almost  persuaded  that  he  ought  to  become 
one.  We  have  no  reason  to  think  he  ever  did.  The 
greater  probability  is,  that  he  gave  himself  no  more 
concern  about  the  new  religion ;  that  he  never  after 
came  so  near  as  to  be  "  almost  persuaded,"  but  per- 
ished in  his  sins. 

In  this,  king  Agrippa  may  be  taken  as  the  repre- 


400  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

sentative  of  a  very  considerable  class  of  persons  in 
religious  revivals.  From  a  state  of  deep  indiiOference, 
they  are  awakened  by  the  Spirit  of  God  under  the 
preaching  of  the  word.  They  find  themselves  con- 
demned by  the  divine  law,  and  that  they  are  in  dan- 
ger of  perishing,  which  they  had  never  realized  be- 
fore. They  see  others  pressing  into  the  kingdom  of 
God.  They  no  longer  make  light  of  the  revival. 
Their  consciences  tell  them  that  they  are  sinners,  and 
need  the  salvation  which  the  gospel  offers.  •  They 
dare  not  remain  where  they  are.  They  resolve  to 
take  up  the  subject  of  personal  religion,  and  yield  to 
its  claims.  They  are  accordingly  punctual  in  their 
attendance  upon  public  worship.  They  listen  to 
preaching  as  they  never  did  before.  They  brush  off 
the  dust  from  their  neglected  Bibles,  and  may  be 
said  to  "  search  the  Scriptures "  with  considerable 
interest.  They  attend  the  prayer-meetings,  and  it 
may  be  the  inquiry  meetings.  They  are  willing  to 
be  personally  addressed  on  the  great  subject,  and 
their  impressions  of  its  paramount  importance  are 
deepened.  The  thought  of  being  left,  while  many  of 
their  companions  and  others  are  taken,  is  painful  and 
alarming.  They  "  do  many  things."  It  is  no  pre- 
tence. They  are  sincere  as  far  as  they  go.  It  may 
truly  be  said  of  some  of  this  class  at  least,  that  they 
are  "  almost  persuaded "  to  be  Christians,  and  this 
persuasion  is  not  a  sudden  impulse,  as  in  the  case  of 
Agrippa,  to  pass  away  almost  as  soon  as  felt,  but 
abiding,  sometimes  for  days  and  weeks. 

But  alas,  there  they  remain.     The  last  and  essen- 
tial step  they  do  not  take.     They  are  only  almost  per- 


ALMOST  PERSUADED.  401 

suaded,  not  quite.  In  the  sense  of  Christ's  address 
to  the  young  ruler,  they  are  "  not  far  from  the  king- 
dom of  heaven;"  but  like  him,  they  remain  without 
till  the  door  is  shut. 

Are  there  not  some  of  this  class  here?  I  believe 
there  are.  You  may  not  in  so  many  words  have 
classed  yourselves  with  Agrippa,  but  you  stand  just 
where  he  said  he  did.  You  are  almost  persuaded  to 
be  Christians.  At  least,  you  think  you  are.  You 
have  become  so  far  interested  in  the  present  revival, 
as  to  attend  all  the  meetings  and  class  yourselves 
with  the  inquirers,  and  under  the  clear  exhibition  and 
claims  of  the  gospel  you  have  sometimes  been  almost 
persuaded,  almost  ready  to  yield  your  hearts  to  God 
Your  pious  friends  have  been  waiting  and  hoping  to 
see  you  come  out  of  the  almost  to  a  full  decision.  And 
how  much  longer  will  you  stand  halting  between  two 
opinions?  What  do  you  expect  to  gain  by  it?  How 
great  the  danger  that  you  will  lose  every  thing. 
You  are  resisting  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  how  long  can 
you  expect  he  will  continue  to  strive  with  you  ?  Oh, 
if  he  should  depart  for  ever,  as  he  may  at  any  mo- 
ment, what  remains  but  "a  fearful  looking  for  of 
judgment  and  fiery  indignation?" 

You  are  now  "  almost  persuaded  ;"  but  what  will 
that  avail  in  the  day  when  God  shall  take  away  the 
soul?  What  does  this  being  only  "  almost  persuaded  "' 
amount  to,  in  any  case?  Here  is  an  inebriate  "al- 
most persuaded"  to  leave  off  drinking.  Will  that 
save  him  from  filling  a  drunkard's  grave  ?  Yonder  is 
an  habitual  profane  swearer.  Will  his  being  "  almost 
persuaded"  to  break  off  from  the  habit  reform  him? 


402  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

Will  he  not  keep  on  profaning  God's  holy  name,  till 
he  is  quite  persuaded  to  leave  it  off?  The  command 
of  universal  obligation  is,  "  Remember  the  Sabbath- 
day  to  keep  it  holy."  Will  any  one's  being  "  almost 
persuaded  "  to  keep  it,  prevent  his  breaking  it?  Must 
he  not  be  quite  persuaded?  Here,  again,  is  a  person 
who  has  been  addicted  to  stealing.  Will  he  steal  no 
more,  because  he  is  "  almost  persuaded  "  to  leave  it 
off,  and  become  an  honest  man?  Who  does  not  see 
that  such  almosts  fall  fatally  short  of  securing  a  thor- 
ough reformation? 

How  much  more  in  your  case,  my  impenitent 
friends,  remaining  as  you  are  only  "  almost  persuad- 
ed "  to  be  Christians.  You  are  yet  in  your  sins,  and 
if  you  go  no  further,  you  are  just  as  certain  to  be  shut 
out  of  heaven  and  perish,  as  if  you  had  never  been 
awakened  at  all.  Nay  more,  you  will  have  to  answer 
for  quenching  the  Spirit,  which  would  have  "sealed 
you  unto  the  day  of  redemption."  In  vain  did  the 
man-slayer  only  almost  reach  the  city  of  refuge,  how- 
ever near  he  got  to  it,  when  the  avenger  of  blood 
overtook  him.  He  must  actually  enter  the  gate,  be- 
fore he  could  be  safe.  To  escape  the  scalping-knife 
of  a  savage  foe  in  hot  pursuit,  the  border  settler 
must  reach  the  fort.  Overtaken  anywhere  outside, 
though  ever  so  near,  he  is  cloven  down  by  the  toma- 
hawk. 

But  what  can  I  more  say?  Here  you  are,  dear 
friends,  lingering  upon  the  "  almost "  persuasion  of 
Agrippa,  and  in  the  greatest  danger  of  perishing  as 
he  did.  I  beseech  you  not  to  rest  another  hour  where 
you  stand.    To  be  "  almost  persuaded  "  is  only  to  be 


COMMUNE  WITH  YOUR  HEART.  403 

almost  saved,  and  to  be  almost  saved  is  to  be  eter- 
nally lost! 

"COMMUNE   WITH   YOUR    OWN    HEART   AND    BE 
STILL." 

When  sinners  are  awakened  under  the  striving  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  a  revival,  and  become  thoroughly 
alarmed,  instead  of  going  to  their  pastor  at  once,  and 
asking  what  they  must  do  to  be  saved,  they  commonly 
try  something  else  first.  If  they  are  young  and  have 
intimate  companions,  their  sympathies  sometimes  draw 
them  more  closely  together  than  ever,  long  before 
they  are  converted,  if  converted  at  all.  It  gives  them 
a  sort  of  relief  to  sit  down  together  and  talk  and 
weep  over  their  danger.  And  why  should  they  not  ? 
It  is  a  danger  to  which  they  are  both  alike  exposed, 
and  which  is  much  greater  than  they  imagine.  Each 
needs  help,  and  must  have  it  from  some  quarter,  or 
perish.  If  there  were  any  thing  to  be  gained  by 
mutual  weeping  and  condolence  under  such  circum- 
stances, it  should  be  encouraged.  But  what  good  can 
it  do  ?  What  help  or  encouragement  can  either  of 
them  give  to  his  friend  ?  They  both  lie  under  the 
same  condemnation,  and  can  no  more  aid  each  other 
than  if  they  were  condemned  prisoners  in  chains. 

Nay,  the  more  they  condole  together,  the  greater 
the  danger  that  they  will  grieve  the  Spirit  to  depart 
from  them.  Many  awakened  sinners  have  in  this  man- 
ner talked  and  wept  away  their  concern,  and  returned 
to  their  former  careless  state. 

Rather,  0  sinner,  commune  with  thine  own 
heart.    Be  much  alone.     Your  friend,  under  the  same 


404  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

condemnation,  cannot  help  you.  Pray  God  to  show 
you  your  guilt,  as  well  as  your  danger.  The  publican 
in  the  parable  did  not  go  to  his  brother  publicans,  to 
get  their  sympathies  and  ask  them  to  help  him.  He 
knew  they  could  not  help  him.  He  went  out  by  him- 
self, and  when  he  got  in  sight  of  the  temple,  which  he 
dared  not  enter,  and  so  burdened  that  he  would  not 
so  much  as  lift  up  his  eyes  to  heaven,  he  smote  upon 
his  breast  and  cried,  "  God  be  merciful  unto  me  a  sin- 
ner." "  Go  thou  and  do  likewise."  Weeping  with 
thine  impenitent  friend  ever  so  long,  will  do  neither 
thyself  nor  him  any  good. 

But  when  two  companions  are  awakened  in  a  re 
vival,  and  one  of  them  is  brought  out  rejoicing  in 
hope,  the  case  is  entirely  different.  Then  he  may  go 
to  his  friend — ^lie  cannot  help  going — and  tell  him 
what  a  Saviour  he  has  found,  and  try  to  show  him 
the  way  to  the  cross;  and  with  the  blessing  of  God 
upon  their  renewed  intercourse,  he  may  be  brought 
into  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 

I  go  a  step  further.  When  two  bosom  friends  are 
awakened  about  the  same  time,  they  should  not  talk 
much  with  each  other  on  any  subject,  till  they  have 
made  their  peace  with  God.  The  reason  is  obvious. 
Whatever  the  subject  may  be,  though  ever  so  suitable 
under  other  circumstances,  there  is  danger  of  its  di- 
verting their  minds  from  the  great  salvation,  not  yet 
secured,  which  demands  all  their  thoughts.  And  the 
same  holds  true,  I  think,  in  all  cases.  When  a  sinner 
is  awakened  and  brought  to  inquire  what  he  must  do, 
till  the  great  question  is  settled,  till  he  has  submitted 
and  given  his  heart  to  God,  it  is  not  safe  for  him  to 


QUENCH  NOT  THE  SPIRIT.  406 

talk  much  on  common  subjects  with  anybody.  Then 
Is  the  time  to  find  and  secure  "the  pearl  of  great 
price ;"  and  he  must  not  let  any  thing  hinder  him. 
He  will  not  if  he  is  as  much  in  earnest  as  he  ought  to 
be.  "  The  one  thing  needful "  first,  and  then  other 
interests  in  their  proper  place. 

♦'QUENCH  NOT  THE  SPIRIT." 

The  Holy  Spirit — by  whose  divine  agency  sinners 
are  awakened,  convicted,  regenerated,  and  sealed  to 
the  day  of  redemption — by  which  also  Christians  are 
sanctified,  built  up  in  the  most  holy  faith,  and  "made 
meet  for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light."  To 
quench,  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  term,  is  to  extin- 
guish or  allay,  as  water  puts  out  fire,  and  quenches 
thirst.   In  the  sense  here  used,  it  is  to  check,  to  stifle. 

As  Jesus  Christ  is  the  only  Redeemer,  so  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  the  only  Renewer  and  Sanctifier. 
From  the  highest  degree  of  holy  love,  shed  abroad  in 
the  heart  of  the  established  believer,  down  to  the 
first  awakening  of  the  impenitent  sinner,  it  is  the 
same  Spirit.  And  so,  all  along  through  every  stage 
of  awakening  and  conviction,  up  to  the  new  birth; 
and  after  that,  to  the  "helping  of  our  infirmities  with 
groanings  which  cannot  be  uttered  f  it  is  the  self- 
same Spirit,  that  worketh  all  in  all. 

At  every  step,  from  first  to  last,  the  Spirit  may  be 
quenched,  may  be  checked,  may  be  stifled,  and  hence 
the  necessity  of  the  exhortation  now  before  us.  Let 
us  then  inquire  briefly,  in  what  way  or  ways,  by  what 
means  the  Spirit  is  often  quenched,  especially  in  re- 
vivals. 


406  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

1.  The  Spirit  may  be  quenched  in  the  earliest 
stage  of  awakening  hy  some  trifling  cause,  of  which 
the  sinner  is  scarcely  conscious  at  the  time.  This 
may  be  your  case,  my  friend.  The  Holy  Spirit  may 
now  be  gently  moving  you  to  "  think  on  your  ways." 
If  any  Christian  friend,  seeing  you  at  the  prayer- 
meetings,  were  to  ask  you  whether  you  feel  any  par- 
ticular interest  in  the  work  that  is  going  on,  you 
would  probably,  or  you  might  answer,  that  you  do 
not.  You  hope  you  shall,  but  you  persuade  yourself 
that  as  yet  the  exhortation,  "  Quench  not  the  Spirit," 
does  not  apply  to  you,  as  you  have  not  experienced 
any  thing  of  His  special  influence.  But  beware  how 
you  give  Satan  this  advantage  over  you.  It  is  one  of 
his  subtle  devices,  by  which  he  will  divert  your  mind 
from  the  subject,  if  he  can.  With  his  consent,  you 
never  would  have  bestowed  a  serious  thought  upon 
your  own  salvation ;  and  if  he  can  blind  you  to  the 
fact  that  the  Spirit  is  beginning  to  strive  with  you, 
he  will  most  certainly  do  it ;  for  then  he  counts  on 
being  sure  of  you.  Cherish  the  divine  influence,  how- 
ever faint  at  first,  as  you  would  a  spark  of  fii-e,  if  you 
had  no  assurance  that,  once  extinguished,  it  would 
ever  be  rekindled. 

2.  The  Spirit  may  be  quenched  by  the  neglect  of 
opportunities.  When  God  is  pouring  out  his  Spirit, 
preaching  is  generally  more  direct  and  pungent,  and 
religious  meetings  are  more  frequent  than  ordinary. 
There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  many  have  quench- 
ed the  Spirit  and  lost  their  souls  by  withdrawing 
from  these  means  of  grace,  at  the  turning  point. 
Their  attention  was  arrested,  their  interest  was  grad- 


QUENCH  NOT  THE  SPIRIT.  407 

ually  increased  at  the  prayer-meetings,  and  had  they 
but  held  on,  they  might  by  striving,  have  entered  in 
at  the  strait  gate ;  but  for  some  cause,  after  a  while 
they  withdrew,  and  in  so  doing  quenched  the  Spirit, 
and  sank  down  into  deeper  stupidity  than  ever. 

I  warn  you,  my  friends,  against  following  these 
fatal  examples.  "  No  man  having  put  his  hand  '  to 
ihe  plough,  and  looking  back,  is  fit  for  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.  G-od,  who  in  his  great  mercy  has  called 
up  your  attention  to  the  claims  of  the  gospel,  does 
not  allow  you  to  hope  that  you  shall  be  saved,  if  you 
turn  back  and  neglect  the  means  which  he  has  ap- 
pointed. True  as  it  may  be — and  nothing  is  more 
certain — that  there  is  no  saving  efficacy  inherent  in 
the  means  themselves,  that  the  excellency  of  the 
power  is  all  of  God,  yet  he  so  honors  his  own 
appointed  means,  that  those  who  voluntarily  neglect 
them,  grieve  the  Spirit  to  leave  them,  just  as  truly  as 
if  every  thing  depended  on  the  means  alone.  Be- 
ware then  that  you  do  not  in  this  way  quench  the 
Spirit. 

3.  The  Spirit  is  often  quenched  by  delay,  by  put- 
ting off  the  subject  to  a  more  "  convenient  season." 
Perhaps  there  is  no  temptation  on  which  the  great 
adversary  depends  so  much  in  seasons  of  revival,  as 
this.  Resolving  ever  so  sincerely  to  repent  at  some 
future  time,  be  it  ever  so  near,  is  not  to  be  depended 
on  for  a  moment.  Every  hour  that  you  delay  is  at 
your  peril.  You  are  in  danger  of  quenching  the 
Spirit,  which,  if  finally  withdrawn,  will  leave  you  to 
perish.  You  may  promise  every  thing  for  to-morrow  ; 
but  what  will  it  avail,  if  your  soul  should  this  night 


408  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

be  required  of  you  ?  Or  if  not,  should  the  Spirit  be 
grieved  by  your  procrastination  to  depart  for  ever, 
what  would  then  be  your  condition?  It  is  appalling 
to  think  of  it.  The  convenient  season  would  never 
come.  Supposing  a  sinner,  thus  forsaken,  could  live 
a  thousand  years,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  highest 
religious  privileges,  he  would  only  be  treasuring  up 
wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath.  No  sinner  ever 
came  to  Christ,  or  ever  will,  without  being  drawn  by 
the  Holy  Spirit.  How  fearful  then  the  danger  of 
quenching  it  by  any  delay.  "  Behold,  now  is  the 
accepted  time."  The  promise  reaches  no  further.  It 
contains  no  future  time. 

4.  The  Spirit  may  be  quenched  by  the  absorbing 
demands  of  worldly  business  and  cares.  While  indus- 
try in  some  lawful  occupation  is  a  common  duty  and 
necessity,  there  is  always  the  greatest  danger  that 
''  the  cares  of  this  world,  the  deceitfulness  of  riches, 
and  the  lusts  of  other  things,  will  choke  the  word  and 
make  it  unfruitful."  Especially  is  this  the  case  in 
revivals.  When  the  attention  of  a  busy  worldly- 
minded  sinner  is  called  up  to  seek  the  pearl  of  price- 
less value ;  when  he  begins  to  feel  that  he  must  have 
a  better  portion  than  this  world  can  give,  and  the 
Holy  Spirit  urges  him  to  seek  for  it  in  earnest,  he 
has  so  much  on  his  mind  and  on  his  hands,  that  he  is 
strongly  tempted  to  put  it  off  a  little  while,  till  he 
can  so  adjust  his  affairs  as  to  be  more  at  leisure,  and 
then  he  will  give  his  time  and  his  heart  to  the  work. 
The  moment  he  forms  this  resolution,  he  grieves  the 
Spirit  to  forsake  him.  It  is  of  God's  infinite  forbear- 
ance, if  he  does  not  in  this  way  quench  it  for  ever. 


QUENCH  NOT  THE  SPIRIT.  409 

It  matters  not  in  such  cases  how  lawful  in  itself  the 
engrossing  worldly  business  may  be,  it  must  be  en- 
tirely given  up  for  the  time  being,  or  so  arranged  as 
not  to  interfere  with  the  immediate  claims  of  the  gos- 
pel. "  What  shall  it  profit  a  man,  if  he  gain  the  whole 
world,  and  lose  his  own  soul?".  Lose  his  own  soul  he 
will,  if  the  good  seed  is  choked  by  the  thorns,  whose 
end  is  to  be  burned. 

5.  Nor  may  we  stop  here.  When  a  sinner  is 
under  awakening,  he  cannot  allow  any  thing,  how- 
ever proper  or  innocent  it  might  be  under  ordinary 
circumstances,  to  divert  his  mind  from  the  one  great 
question,  "What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?"  without 
running  the  fearful  hazard  of  quenching  the  Spirit. 
The  human  mind  cannot  entertain  two  engrossing 
subjects  at  once,  however  lawful  and  proper  in  them- 
selves, and  do  justice  to  either.  There  is  a  crisis  in 
the  case  of  every  awakened  sinner,  when  the  least 
diversion  of  the  mind  may  quench  the  Spirit,  and 
prove  fatal.  It  may  be  nothing  more  than  forming  a 
new  partnership  in  business,  or  making  an  honest 
lucrative  bargain,  or  attending  a  social  party,  or 
going  out  of  town  to  visit  a  friend  :  any  thing  which 
comes  in  between  the  sinner  and  the  claims  of  the 
gospel  to  his  immediate  repentance  and  faith  in  Christ 
may  quench  the  Spirit,  and  thus  prove  as  fatal  to  the 
soul  as  any  deliberate  rejection  would  be.  And  here 
lies  one  of  the  greatest  dangers.  While  the  awaken- 
ed sinner  perhaps  breaks  off  from  ensnaring  company, 
and  is  on  his  guard  against  the  most  obvious  hinder- 
ances,  he  can  hardly  be  persuaded  that  trifling,  inno- 
cent diversions  may  be  equally  ruinous.     But  they 

Rev.  Sketches.  18 


410  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

may,  and  probably  they  oftener  are,  than  the  more 
obvious  worldly  attractions. 

I  might  suggest  many  other  cautions  against 
quenching  the  Spirit;  but  let  these  suffice.  If  God 
arrested  you  anywhere  in  the  broad  way,  if  he  has 
awakened  you  to  a  sense  of  your  guilt  and  danger,  it 
may  be  the  last  time,  and  probably  will  be,  if  you  suf- 
fer any  thing  to  hinder  you  from  hastening  to  the 
foot  of  the  cross  in  "  the  accepted  time,  the  day  of 
salvation." 

**THE  WILES  OF  THE  DEVIL." 

That  there  is  a  fallen  spirit,  malignant  and  subtle, 
walking  about  among  men  "seeking  whom  he  may 
devour,"  is  so  fully  asserted  in  the  Scriptures  that 
I  need  not  stop  a  moment  to  prove  it.  He  is  called 
by  different  names  in  the  Bible — Angel  of  the  bot- 
tomless pit,  Prince  of  darkness,  Satan,  Beelzebub, 
the  Serpent,  the  Deceiver,  a  Liar,  the  Prince  of  the 
power  of  the  air,  and  the  god  of  this  world.  Fright- 
ful names;  infernal  agencies;  awful  dangers! 

As  this  great  adversary  of  God  and  man  was 
active  in  trying  to  counteract  our  blessed  Saviour  in 
the  great  work  of  saving  men,  which  he  came  into  the 
world  to  accomplish,  so  we  may  be  sure  he  will  re- 
double his  efforts  to  counteract  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
seasons  of  special  revival.  In  times  of  profound  stu- 
pidity, he  need  trouble  himself  but  little  about  those 
whom  he  has  led  captive  at  his  will,  for  he  is  in  no 
danger  of  losing  them.  But  when  Jesus  Christ  comes 
into  a  town,  and  sinners  begin  to  inquire  what  they 
must  do  to  be  saved,  he  is  sure  to  be  there,  and  to 


WILES  OF  THE  DEVIL.  411 

oppose  the  work  in  every  possible  way.  However 
mysterious  it  may  seem,  the  Bible  abundantly  testifies 
that  he  has  direct  access  to  the  minds  of  men,  and 
knows  how  to  turn  and  apply  his  temptations  to  the 
greatest  advantage. 

His  first  object  of  course  will  be  to  prevent  sin- 
ners from  taking  any  interest  in  the  revival.  To  this 
end,  he  will  do  what  he  can  to  keep  them  away  from 
public  worship,  and  especially  from  extra  meetings. 
If  he  cannot  keep  them  away,  the  next  step  is  to  pre- 
vent them  from  treasuring  up  what  they  hear.  "  Then 
Cometh  Satan  immediately,  and  taketh  away  the  word 
that  was  sown  in  their  hearts,"  lest  they  should  be- 
lieve, and  be  saved.  This,  I  doubt  not,  is  just  what 
he  is  doing  here  every  Sabbath.  If  he  does  not  suc- 
ceed in  this,  he  will  persuade  them  that  what  they 
witness  is  a  mere  temporary  excitement,  which  will 
soon  die  away.  If  under  an  alarming  sermon  they 
begin  to  tremble,  he  will  tell  them  not  to  be  fright- 
ened ;  there  is  no  hell  to  be  afraid  of :  just  as  he  told 
Eve,  "  Ye  shall  not  surely  die ;"  for  he  is  a  liar  from 
the  beginning,  and  the  father  of  it.  If  this  does  not 
answer,  he  will  persuade  them  to  dismiss  the  subject 
for  the  present,  and  take  it  up  at  a  more  convenient 
time.  Thousands  have  yielded  to  these  and  other 
suggestions  of  the  great  Deceiver,  and  have  perished 
in  their  sins.  I  have  no  doubt  of  it.  Nor  have  I 
any  doubt  that  there  are  some — I  fear  there  are  many 
in  every  revival — under  the  same  diabolical  delusion. 
And  the  more  control  Satan  has  over  them,  the  more 
stoutly  will  they  deny  that  there  is  any  thing  in  it. 
God  may  open  their  eyes  before  it  is  too  late ;  but  of 


412  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

all  classes  of  impenitent  sinners,  none  are  in  greater 
danger ;  their  feet  stand  on  the  most  slippery  places. 

Now  that  some  of  you  are  awakened,  you  must 
not  flatter  yourselves  that  the  wily  tempter  will  let 
you  alone.  Depend  upon  it,  he  will  employ  all  his 
subtlety  to  hold  you  fast  in  his  snare.  If  he  cannot 
hinder  you  from  asking  what  you  must  do  to  be  sav- 
ed, he  will  put  you  upon  such  a  course  of  "  impenitent 
doings,"  if  he  can,  as  will  quiet  your  fears,  without  at 
all  losing  his  hold  upon  you.  He  will  do  his  utmost 
to  persuade  you  that  a  person  so  moral  and  inoffen- 
sive as  you  have  been,  cannot  be  in  danger  of  being 
lost.  "  God  is  too  merciful.  If  you  have  failed  in 
any  thing,  repent  of  it.  Do  the  best  you  can,  and 
dismiss  your  concern.  Be  honest  and  kind  and  sober 
and  blameless  in  every  way,  and  all  will  be  well.'^ 
The  Deceiver,  I  have  no  doubt,  is  trying  to  quiet  some 
of  you  by  suggesting  that  you  are  too  young  to  be  so 
anxious.  "  Wait  a  few  years,  till  your  minds  are  more 
mature,  and  you  have  had  more  religious  instruction 
to  prepare  you  for  taking  up  the  subject  to  a  great 
deal  better  advantage.''  I  am  very  much  afraid  he 
will  succeed  with  some  of  you  just  here.  Remember, 
that  "  he  is  a  liar,  and  the  father  of  it."  If  it  suits 
his  purpose  better,  he  will  tell  you  that  you  must 
*'  wait  God's  time  ^'  and  not  be  discouraged ;  or  wait 
till  the  excitement  is  over,  so  that  you  may  take  up 
the  subject  calmly,  and  not  be  deceived.  Or  that 
"  you  are  so  wicked,  and  have  held  out  so  long,  that 
God  will  not  receive  you.  You  might  have  come  in, 
but  it  is  too  late." 

These  are  some  of  Satan's  "devices,"  of  which  we 


WILES  OF  THE  DEVIL.  413 

are  not  ignorant.  He,  no  doubt,  employs  a  great 
many  others,  as  occasion  serves  him,  in  special  sea- 
sons of  revival ;  and  when  all  fail,  he  will  in  the 
last  resort  do  his  utmost  to  persuade  you  to  settle 
down  upon  a  false  hope.  Then,  though  it  will  have 
given  him  no  little  trouble  to  follow  you,  step  by 
step,  through  your  alarm  and  convictions,  he  will  not 
regret  it,  as  his  object  is  gained  at  last,  by  your  dis- 
missing all  your  concern,  and  settling  down  "  at  ease 
in  Zion." 

Oh,  my  friends,  this  is  no  bugbear,  conjured  up  to 
frighten  weak  women  and  young  children.  It  is  a 
voice  of  warning  from  the  Scriptures,  against  "  the 
wiles  of  the  devil,"  which  should  make  every  impeni- 
tent sinner  tremble.  Evil  spirits  are  not  visible  to 
mortal  eyes,  and  they  are  infinitely  more  dangerous 
on  that  account.  Could  you  see  them  waiting  for 
you  at  the  door  to  catch  away  the  sermon  when  you 
come  out  of  the  church,  meeting  you  in  every  prayer- 
meeting,  and  following  you  everywhere — could  you 
hear  them,  whispering  their  temptations  in  your  ears, 
to  dismiss  your  concern,  and  have  no  more  to  do  with 
the  revival,  it  would  doubtless  startle  you.  Be  on 
your  guard ;  the  tempter  is  here.  He  is  in  all  places 
of  worship  at  such  a  time  as  this.  Your  only  safety 
lies  in  giving  no  place  to  the  devil.  Not  content 
with  what  he  and  his  angels  can  do  to  banish  your 
concern,  and  drive  away  your  convictions,  he  will 
stir  up  his  agents,  some  of  your  neighbors,  your  com- 
panions perhaps,  to  ply  you  with  plausible  dissua- 
sives,  with  ridicule,  or  whatever  else  may  better  suit 
his  malignant  purpose.     It  is  through  such  agents 


414  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

that  Satan  sometimes  "is  transformed  into  an  angel 
of  light."  He  may  deceive  and  destroy  those,  who 
would  be  alarmed  and  resist  him  were  he  to  show 
himself  in  his  true  colors. 

Depend  upon  it,  dear  friends,  that  whoever  op- 
poses you,  or  tries  in  any  way  to  prevent  your  becom- 
ing Christians,  is  an  emissary  of  his  father  the  devil, 
who  speaks  through  human  organs,  just  as  the  devils 
did  when  our  Saviour  was  casting  them  out.  Oh, 
my  dear  friends,  put  your  fingers  in  your  ears  as 
Bunyan's  Pilgrim  did,  and  go  on  crying,  "  Life,  eter- 
nal life !  eternal  life !" 

'*THE  WILES  OF  THE  DEVIL  "  —  Continued. 

To  young  Converts. 

My  dear  Friends — On  a  former  occasion,  when 
you  were  awakened  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  asking 
what  you  must  do  to  be  saved,  I  took  occasion  from 
the  word  of  God  to  warn  you  against  the  "  wiles  of 
the  devil,''  who  is  more  active  in  times  of  revival 
than  ever ;  and  who,  I  felt  sure,  would  persuade  you 
to  turn  back  if  he  could.  Since  then,  you  humbly 
trust  that  God  in  his  great  mercy  has  delivered  you, 
and  brought  you  into  "  the  kingdom  of  his  dear  Son." 
Now,  at  last,  you  feel  safe.  This  great  deliverance 
is  final,  you  trust.  For  why  should  he  hope  to  get 
any  advantage  of  you,  now  that  you  have  renounced 
him  and  all  his  works  for  ever? 

But  why  should  he  not  hope  and  even  expect  to 
bring  you  into  bondage  again,  notwithstanding  you 
have  joined  the  church,  or  are  about  to  join?  How 
does  he  know  that  you  have  got  beyond  his  reach  ? 


WILES  OF  THE  DEVIL.  415 

How  does  he  know  that  you  have  been  truly  regener- 
ated ?  Your  being  received  into  the  church  does  not 
prove  it.  On  the  contrary,  he  knows  very  well  that 
some  are  self-deceived,  and  fall  away,  proving  that 
notwithstanding  their  fair  profession,  they  belong  to 
the  class  of  stony-ground  hearers,  who  "receive  the 
word  with  joy,  and  in  time  of  temptation  fall  away ;" 
or  to  that  other  class,  represented  by  the  thorny 
ground,  who  hear  the  word,  and  the  cares  of  this 
world,  the  deceitfulness  of  riches,  and  the  lusts  of 
other  things  choke  the  word,  and  it  bringeth  no  fruit 
to  perfection.  Tares  and  wheat  grow  together  till 
the  harvest,  then  to  be  separated,  the  one  to  be  gar- 
nered, and  the  other  to  be  cast  into  the  fire.  Of  the 
ten  virgins,  five  were  foolish,  and  having  no  oil  in 
their  vessels  with  their  lamps,  were  shut  out  when 
the  Bridegroom  came.  And  again,  many  will  say 
unto  me  in  that  day,  Lord,  Lord,  have  we  not  eaten 
and  drunk  in  thy  presence?  and  thou  hast  taught  in 
our  streets;  to  whom  he  will  say,  I  know  you  not 
whence  ye  are.  These  are  very  alarming  scriptures. 
There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  devil  is  igno- 
rant that  there  are  a  great  many  false  professors  in 
church,  and  that  he  has  again  led  them  captive  at  his 
will.  Surely  he  will  not  relinquish  the  hope  of  lead- 
ing church-members  to  apostatize,  as  long  as  he  has 
so  many  trophies,  won  back  by  his  stratagems. 

If  he  does  not  know  who  are  really  converted,  and 
who  have  only  the  form  of  godliness — and  there  is  no 
proof  that  he  does — then  why  should  he  not  tempt 
every  professed  disciple  to  deny  his  Master,  and  hope 
to  prevail?    And  supposing  he  did  know  that  you 


416  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

have  been  truly  converted,  would  that  infallibly  pro- 
tect you?  It  did  not  discourage  him  from  tempting 
our  first  parents,  though  perfectly  holy  as  they  came 
from  the  Creator's  hand ;  and  he  succeeded.  Nay, 
he  had  the  amazing  audacity  to  tempt  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  himself,  and  to  ply  his  temptations  no  less 
than  forty  days  in  succession.  What  security  then 
would  there  be,  even  if  he  knew  that  you  had  all  the 
protection  which  the  most  eminent  Christian  in  the 
world  ever  enjoyed  ?  G-od  told  Satan  that  his  servant 
Job  was  a  perfect  and  an  upright  man.  But  that  did 
not  discourage  him.  He  only  wanted  permission  to 
put  Job  to  the  test,  and  having  obtained  it,  confi- 
dently expected  to  prove  him  a  hypocrite.  Failing 
the  first  time,  he  wanted  to  subject  him  to  a  still 
severer  trial.  It  was  granted  to  the  extent  of  satanic 
ingenuity  and  malice,  simply  forbiding  his  taking 
away  Job's  life.  Who  then  should  he  fear  to  attack  ? 
Now  turn  to  your  Bibles,  and  see  how  earnestly 
the  churches,  and  of  course  all  the  members  of  the 
churches,  are  warned  against  the  assaults  of  the  devil, 
and  exhorted  to  put  on  the  only  panoply  that  can 
protect  them.  Let  me  quote  two  or  three  passages : 
"  To  whom  ye  forgive  any  thing,  I  forgive  also — lest 
Satan  should  get  an  advantage  of  us  ;  for  we  are  not 
ignorant  of  his  devices."  2  Cor.  2  :  11.  "Be  sober, 
be  vigilant ;  because  your  adversary  the  devil,  as  a 
roaring  lion,  walketh  about  seeking  whom  he  may 
devour :  whom  resist,  steadfast  in  the  faith,  know- 
ing that  the  same  afflictions  are  accomplished  in  your 
brethren  that  are  in  the  world,"  that  is,  in  all  believ- 
ers.    1  Pet.  5:8.    He  would  devour  every  one  of 


ENDURING  TO  THE  END.  411 

you  if  he  could.  Nothing  but  prayer  and  vigilance, 
relying  on  the  arm  of  the  Lord  for  protection,  can 
save  you. 

In  the  sixth  chapter  of  Ephesians  you  have  the 
Christian  armor  described  piece  by  piece,  and  you 
will  want  the  whole  suit.  You  cannot  be  safe  with- 
out every  part  of  it.  For  want  of  a  single  piece  of 
this  heavenly  panoply,  many  soldiers  of  the  cross 
have  been  cast  down  wounded.  With  it,  and  under 
the  eye  and  banner  of  the  Captain  of  salvation,  you 
will  be  sure  to  come  off  conquerors,  and  more  than 
conquerors.  You  need  not  fear  what  earth  and  hell 
can  do  to  take  your  crowns.  Watch  and  pray  against 
the  wiles  of  the  devil,  and  with  every  temptation 
God  will  make  a  way  for  your  escape.  The  moment 
you  let  down  your  watch  you  will  find  yourselves, 
if  not  actually  on  the  enemy's  ground,  so  near  the 
lines  that  some  of  his  fiery  darts  may  reach  you. 
Therefore  stand  fast  in  the  Lord,  and  he  will  be  your 
high  tower  and  strong  deliverer. 

"HE  THAT  ENDURETH  TO  THE  END  SHALL  BE 
SAVED." 

To  young  Converts. 

My  dear  Friends — We  have  come  here  to  get 
our  hearts  warmed,  and  to  set  up  our  Ebenezer  on 
this  spot,  so  hallowed  by  the  presence  and  interces- 
sion of  the  Holy  Spirit.  For  many  weeks  past,  this 
has  been  our  Bethel,  the  morning  family  altar  of  the 
church,  our  Bethesda,  from  whose  waters,  agitated  by 
the  angel,  so  many  have  lately  come  up,  praising  God 
for  his  healing  and  restoring  mercies. 

18* 


418  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

A  hasty  glance  at  the  few  months  past  would 
show  what  reason  we  have  to  call  upon  our  souls  and 
all  that  is  within  us  to  praise  the  Lord  for  visiting  us 
in  our  low  estate,  and  putting  this  new  song  into  our 
mouths.  But  while  you,  my  friends,  who  have  just 
begun  to  lift  up  your  hearts  with  your  voices,  can 
never  praise  him  enough  for  this  great  deliverance, 
you  may  not  sit  down  rejoicing,  as  if  you  would  have 
but  little  more  to  do  than  to  raise  your  hallelujahs 
higher  and  still  higher  to  Him  who  hath  set  you 
free. 

You  are  now  very  much  in  the  condition  of  the 
children  of  Israel,  when,  in  looking  back  upon  their 
marvellous  deliverance  from  Egyptian  bondage,  and 
the  destruction  of  their  cruel  masters,  they  sang  that 
memorable  song  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  Exodus: 
"I  will  sing  unto  the  Lord,  for  he  hath  triumphed 
gloriously :  the  horse  and  his  rider  hath  he  thrown 
into  the  sea.  The  Lord  is  my  strength  and  song,  and 
he  is  become  my  salvation.  Who  is  like  unto  thee, 
0  Lord,  among  the  gods?  who  is  like  thee,  glorious 
in  holiness,  fearful  in  praises,  doing  wonders?  Thou 
in  mercy  hast  led  forth  thy  people ;  thou  hast  guided 
them  in  thy  strength  unto  thy  holy  habitation.  Thou 
shalt  bring  them  in,  and  plant  them  in  the  mountain 
of  thine  inheritance,  in  the  place,  0  Lord,  which  thou 
hast  made  for  thee  to  dwell  in." 

Thus  did  the  Hebrew  tribes  rejoice  in  their  de- 
liverance, and  such  were  their  anticipations,  as  if  they 
had  already  got  possession  of  the  promised  land. 
They  forgot  that  they  had  but  commenced  their  jour- 
ney, that  the  wilderness  was  before  them,  and  that 


ENDURING  TO  THE  END.  419 

when  they  had  sung  out  their  song,  Instead  of  resting 
where  they  were,  they  must  go  forward,  encounter- 
ing all  its  hardships  and  perils.  They  forgot  that 
there  were  enemies  yet  to  be  met,  out  of  whose  hand 
the  Lord  alone  could  deliver  them;  and  that  there 
was  no  bread  and  no  water  there.  But  for  the  mirac- 
nlous  supply  which  awaited  them,  they  must  all  have 
perished  at  the  very  entrance  of  the  wilderness.  They 
must  be  sustained  by  the  manna  from  the  skies,  and 
the  water  from  the  rock,  all  the  journey  through. 

So,  dear  Mends,  it  is  with  you,  rejoicing  in  your 
late  deliverance  from  a  far  more  cruel  taskmaster 
than  Pharaoh.  In  the  overflowing  of  your  thanks- 
givings, you  are  in  danger  of  forgetting  that  this  is 
not  your  rest,  that  you  have  only  entered  upon  your 
journey  towards  the  heavenly  Canaan,  and  that  you 
too  have  to  go  through  the  wilderness.  While  on 
the  journey,  you  cannot  live  without  the  supplies  of 
grace  in  your  hearts,  symbolized  by  the  manna  and 
the  water  that  flowed  from  the  smitten  rock.  The 
analogy  all  along  is  exceedingly  striking — the  de- 
liverance in  the  one  case  from  Egyptian  servitude, 
and  in  the  other  from  the  bondage  of  sin  and  Satan : 
the  song  of  triumph,  the  wilderness,  the  manna,  the 
water,  the  enemies  to  be  encountered  and  vanquished 
by  the  arm  of  the  Lord. 

Yes,  dear  friends,  you  have  to  pass  through  the 
wilderness.  There  is  no  other  way  to  the  promised 
land.  In  looking  forward  from  your  present  stand- 
point, it  probably  does  not  appear  very  formidable. 
The  setting  out  is  so  delightful,  every  thing  seems  so 
easy,  that  you  cannot  understand  how  there  can  be 


420  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

mucli  of  danger  cfr  hinderance,  or  hunger  or  thirst, 
before  you — you  have  safely  passed  through  the  Red 
sea ;  the  cloud  and  the  pillar  of  fire  will  lead  you  on, 
and  what  have  you  to  fear?  You  may  persuade 
yourselves  that  your  spiritual  enemies  are  all  dead. 
Would  that  they  were.  But  some  of  us  have  entered 
the  wilderness  before  you.  By  painful  experience 
we  have  learned  something  of  what  you  must  expect, 
and  it  would  be  unkind  and  unfaithful  in  us,  not  to 
forewarn  and  give  you  the  best  directions  in  our 
power. 

First  then,  as  the  Israelites  could  not  live  without 
food,  and  as  the  wilderness  yielded  nothing  their 
bread  must  be  rained  down  from  the  skies,  so  it  will 
be  with  you.  You  cannot  live  without  spiritual  food. 
You  must  receive  that  Bread  which  came  down  from, 
heaven  to  give  life  to  the  world.  In  other  words, 
you  must  receive  supplies  of  grace  from  the  infinite 
storehouse  above.  You  cannot  advance  a  single  stage 
without  them.  And  as  the  Israelites  must  gather  the 
manna  every  morning,  so  must  you  seek  supplies  every 
day  from  your  heavenly  Father.  Just  as  he  supplies 
your  bodily  wants,  by  giving  you  day  by  day  your 
daily  bread — only  one  day  at  a  time — so  you  must 
ask  him,  day  by  day,  for  the  true  Bread  to  nourish 
your  souls.  The  grace  which  God  bestows  upon  you 
to-day,  is  no  more  than  you  need  to-day,  and  can  no 
more  be  kept  over  than  the  manna  could.  You  must, 
as  it  were,  gather  it  fresh  every  morning.  You  must 
ask  for  new  supplies  every  day,  thus  availing  your- 
selves of  the  blessed  assurance  that  your  heavenly 
Father  is  more  ready  to  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  those 


ENDURING  TO  THE  END.  421 

that  ask  him,  than  earthly  parents  are  to  give  bread 
to  their  children. 

Moreover,  you  must  be  satisfied  with  the  Bread  of 
heaven  all  the  way  through  the  wilderness,  and  till 
you  reach  the  promised  land.  Just  here  the  children 
of  Israel  made  a  fatal  mistake.  Angels'  food  was  not 
good  enough  for  them.  They  longed  for  the  leeks 
and  onions  of  Egypt.  They  loathed  the  manna.  They 
lusted  for  flesh,  and  God  in  anger  sent  them  the 
quails,  and  the  plague  closely  followed.  He  gave 
them  their  request,  but  sent  leanness  into  their  souls. 
So,  dear  friends,  it  will  be  with  you  if,  at  any  stage 
of  your  progress,  you  lose  your  relish  for  the  spir- 
itual manna,  and  turn  back  to  "the  beggarly  ele- 
ments ''  of  the  world.  If  you  long  for  the  carnal  in- 
dulgences, the  follies  and  amusements  which  you  have 
left  behind,  "  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  and  the  lust  of  the 
eyes,  and  the  pride  of  life,"  God  may  grant  your  re- 
quest, but  if  he  does,  he  will  "send  leanness  into 
your  souls."     You  will  pine  away  and  die. 

Again,  as  the  Israelites  would  have  perished  with 
thirst,  if  God  had  not  brought  water  out  of  the  rock 
for  their  daily  and  constant  supply,  so  must  you  with- 
out that  living  water  which  Christ  alone  can  pour 
down  from  the  infinite  fountain  above,  and  which,  if 
you  receive  it,  "shall  be  in  you  a  well  of  water 
springing  up  into  everlasting  life."  As  the  water 
from  the  smitten  rock  flowed  along,  and  accompa- 
nied the  Israelites  in  all  their  marches  till  they  got 
through  the  wilderness,  so  Christ  was  with  his  ancient 
church  all  the  way,  as  the  apostle  testifies :  "  Breth- 
ren, I  would  not  that  ye  should  be  ignorant  how  that 


422  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

all  our  fathers  were  under  the  cloud,  and  all  passed 
through  the  sea;  and  were  all  baptized  unto  Moses  in, 
the  cloud  and  in  the  sea;  and  did  all  eat  the  same 
spiritual  meat,  and  did  all  drink  the  same  spiritual 
drink;  for  they  drank  of  that  spiritual  Rock  that 
followed  them,  and  that  Rock  was  Christ."  So,  dear 
friends,  that  spiritual  Rock  will  follow  you,  if  you 
cleave  to  him.  He  will  be  to  you  "as  rivers  of  water 
in  a  dry  place,  and  as  the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in 
a  weary  land."  He  will  daily  refresh  your  souls  with 
grace  and  strength,  to  go  on  your  way  rejoicing. 

But  after  all,  it  is  a  wilderness  which  you  have  to 
pass  through,  "and  there  are  many  adversaries." 
You  will  have  fightings  without  and  fears  within. 
The  devil,  who  led  Christ  himself  into  the  wilder- 
ness, will  assail  you  with  his  temptations.  Now  is 
the  time  for  you,  as  good  soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ,  to 
put  on  the  whole  armor  of  God,  that  you  may  be  able 
to  stand  against  the  wiles  of  the  devil.  "For  we 
wrestle  not  against  flesh  and  blood,  but  against  prin- 
cipalities, against  powers,  against  the  rulers  of  the 
darkness  of  this  world,  against  spiritual  wickedness 
in  high  places.  Stand  therefore,  having  your  loins 
girt  about  with  truth,  and  having  on  the  breastplate 
of  righteousness,  and  your  feet  shod  with  the  prepa- 
ration of  the  gospel  of  peace.  Above  all,  taking  the 
shield  of  faith,  wherewith  ye  shall  be  able  to  quench 
all  the  fiery  darts  of  the  wicked.  And  take  the  hel- 
met of  salvation,  and  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  which  is 
the  word  of  God  ;  praying  always  with  all  prayer  and 
supplication  in  the  Spirit,  and  watching  thereunto 
with  all  perseverance  and  supplication  for  all  saints." 


ENDURING  TO  THE  END.  423 

Though  these  things  are  spoken  to  us  in  a  figure,  they 
strikingly  represent  the  Christian  warfare.  You  will 
have  occasion  for  the  whole  suit  of  armor,  in  many  a 
sharp  conflict,  before  you  reach  the  fords  of  Jordan. 
But  if  you  are  faithful  unto  death,  you  will  come  off 
conquerors  and  more  than  conquerors,  through  Him 
who  hath  loved  you  and  given  himself  for  you. 

Go  forward,  not  in  your  own  strength,  but  "  strong 
in  the  Lord  and  in  the  power  of  his  might."  Nothing 
else  will  stand  you  in  stead  a  single  day,  for  you  have 
foes  within  as  well  as  without.  They  are  your  in- 
dwelling sins,  which  though  vanquished  are  not  all 
slain,  and  they  are  in  correspondence  with  the  enemy 
without.  Indeed,  but  for  this  advantage  the  grand 
adversary  with  all  his  legions  could  have  no  power 
over  you :  "  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan,"  would  put 
him  to  flight  in  a  moment.  When  constrained  to  cry 
out  with  Paul,  "  Who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body 
of  this  death?"  may  you. also  be  able  to  exult  as  he 
did :  "  Thanks  be  to  God,  who  giveth  us  the  victory 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

And  now,  dear  brethren  and  friends,  what  more 
shall  we  say?  We  bid  you  God  speed  with  all  our 
hearts.  May  He  who  dwelt  in  the  bush  go  with,  guide, 
and  protect  you  all  the  journey  through.  The  earthly 
Canaan,  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  you  may  never 
see,  but  if  you  "  endure  to  the  end,"  you  will  at  last 
reach  that  better  country,  "  even  a  heavenly,"  where 
there  are  no  foes  to  be  driven  out — where  the  river 
of  the  water  of  life  flows  out  from  the  throne  of  God 
and  the  Lamb,  watering  all  the  heavenly  plains — where 
there  shall  be  no  more  fighting,  no  more  hunger,  no 


424  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

more  thirst,  but  where  you  shall  find  infinitely  sweeter 
refreshments  than  the  honey  of  the  rock,  or  the  clus- 
ters of  Eshcol.  Press  on  then  towards  the  mark  of 
your  high  calling,  singing  as  you  go, 

Guide  me,  0  thou  great  Jehovah, 
Pilgrim  through  this  barren  land ; 
»  I  am  weak,  but  thou  art  mighty, 

Hold  me  with  thy  powerful  hand: 

Bread  of  heaven. 
Feed  me  till  I  want  no  more. 

Open  wide  the  crystal  fountain, 
Whence  the  healing  waters  flow: 

Let  the  fiery,  cloudy  pillar 

Lead  me  all  my  journey  through: 

Strong  Deliverer, 
Be  thou  still  my  strength  and  shield. 

When  I  tread  the  verge  of  Jordan, 

Bid  my  anxious  fears  subside : 
Death  of  death,  and  hell's  Destruction, 

Land  me  safe  on  Canaan's  side : 
Songs  of  praises 

I  will  ever  give  to  thee. 


REYIYAL  CONVERSATIONS, 

BETWEEN  A  PASTOR  AND  INQUIRERS. 


CONVERSATION   I. 

Inquirer.  (In  the  pastor's  study.)  Are  you  at  leisure 
for  a  little  while  this  evening  ? 

Pastor.  I  am,  and  am  happy  to  see  you. 

I.  My  mind  has  for  two  or  three  days  been  consid- 
erably exercised  on  the  subject  of  religion ;  and  I  have 
called  to  see  if  you  can  help  me  get  over  some  of  my 
difficulties. 

P.  Whatever  your  difficulties  may  be,  I  hope  they 
are  not  insurmountable.  Will  you  have  the  goodness 
to  state  them? 

I.  My  father  and  mother  are  both  professors,  and  I 
have  been  instructed  in  religion.  They  took  me  with 
them  to  public  worship  earlier  than  I  can  remember,  and 
I  have  regularly  attended  on  the  Sabbath  ever  since.  I 
have  been  taught  to  believe  in  the  necessity  of  regener- 
ation, not  only  from  the  pulpit,  but  at  home  and  in  the 
Sabbath-school ;  and  I  have  never  doubted  the  reality  or 
the  importance  of  experimental  piety.  I  always  intend- 
ed to  become  religious,  some  time  or  other ;  and  when  I 
was  a  child  I  was  alarmed  more  than  once,  under  the 
preaching  of  our  excellent  minister.  But  these  impres- 
sions soon  wore  ofi".     When  I  came  to  college,  I  had  a 


426  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

secret  hope  that  I  might  be  converted  before  I  got 
through ;  and  ever  since  this  revival  began  I  have  felt 
uneasy.  Nothing  has  gone  right.  I  have  felt  dissatis- 
fied with  myself,  and  with  every  thing  about  me.  I  am 
not  awakened,  but  I  am  unhappy.  Preaching  troubles 
me  ;  religious  conversation  troubles  me  ;  the  prayers  that 
I  overhear  as  I  pass  through  the  college  entries  trouble 
me.  Sometimes  I  resolve  not  to  attend  any  of  the  meet- 
ings ;  but  when  the  time  comes,  I  cannot  stay  away.  I 
go,  but  do  not  feel  any  thing,  and  I  cannot,  except  it  be 
an  irresistible  and  unaccountable  inclination  to  find  fault 
with  the  doctrines  which  I  hear,  and  with  professors  of 
religion  :  sometimes  because  they  do  not  live  up  to  their 
profession ;  sometimes  because  they  are  overmuch  right- 
eous ;  sometimes  because  they  speak  to  me  on  the  sub- 
ject, and  sometimes  because  they  do  not.  I  am  a  bun- 
dle of  contradictions.  I  cannot  analyze  my  own  feel- 
ings. I  want  to  be  saved,  and  yet  I  do  not  care  any 
thing  about  it ;  if  I  did,  I  should  not  remain  as  I  am. 

P.  Your  case  is  certainly  an  alarming  one ;  and  I 
am  afraid  it  will  never  be  any  better.  According  to 
your  statement,  you  have  sinned  against  great  light.  It 
is  not  for  want  of  religious  instruction  that  you  have 
lived  so  long  "without  hope  and  without  God  in  the 
world."  And  what  do  you  think  is  the  reason?  If  I 
understand  you  right,  you  admit  the  infinite  importance 
of  being  reconciled  to  God.  Why  then  do  you  hesitate  ? 
What  hinders  you  from  becoming  a  Christian  this  very 
hour? 

I.  I  do  not  know.  I  am  a  wonder  to  myself.  I  cer- 
tainly wish  to  be  saved,  but  what  can  I  do  ? 

P.  What  ham  you  done  ?  Have  you  done  any  thing  ? 
God  has  been  commanding  you  every  day,  for  a  great 
many  years,  to  repent  of  sin  and  believe  in  Christ.  Have 
you  done  this  ?    He  has  been  calling  upon  you,  with  all 


A  DELAYING  INQUIRER.  427 

the  authority  and  tenderness  of  a  father,  "My  son,  give 
me  thy  heart."     Have  you  given  him  your  heart? 

I.  Oh,  you  misunderstand  me.  I  have  not  got  so 
far.  I  have  told  you  already  that  I  am  not  even  awa- 
kened ;  and  how  can  I  repent  ?  I  am  somewhat  trou- 
bled, to  be  sure,  or  I  should  not  be  here.  But  my  feel- 
ings are  all  indefinite. 

P.  Do  you  think  your  not  having  got  so  far  is  any 
valid  excuse  for  not  repenting  and  giving  your  heart  to 
God  ?  The  question  is  not  how  far  you  have  advanced, 
or  how  you  feel,  but  how  you  ought  to  feel. 

I.  I  do  not  feel  any  thing.  I  have  no  sense  of  my 
sins,  and  how  can  I  have  ?  I  wish  I  could  feel  as  others 
do,  but  it  is  impossible. 

P.  My  dear  young  friend,  do  stop  and  think  what 
you  are  saying.  You  do  not  feel !  You  have  no  sense 
of  your  sinfulness  !  Astonishing !  A  sinner  against  a 
holy  God,  and  under  condemnation,  and  liable  every  mo- 
ment to  drop  into  a  burning,  hopeless  eternity — and  yet 
you  cannot  feel,  cannot  be  alarmed,  cannot  "flee  from  the 
wrath  to  come  I"     Oh,  how  dead  you  must  be  !     "  Hear, 

0  heavens  ;  and  give  ear,  0  earth  !"  What  a  heart  you 
must  have  I  You  can  feel  and  act  on  every  other  subject 
but  this.  What  would  you  think  of  a  man  standing  still 
on  a  wide  prairie,  while  the  smoke  and  flames  were  ris- 
ing to  heaven  around  him,  were  he  in  reply  to  your  ex- 
postulations to  say,  "  I  have  no. feeling;  I  cannot  be  alarm- 
ed at  my  situation,  though  I  know  the  fire  is  all  the 
while  approaching?"  What  would  you  think  of  a  pris- 
oner under  sentence  of  death,  were  he  to  say,  "I  know 
that  if  I  am  not  pardoned,  I  must  soon  die ;  but  I  cannot 
feel  enough  alarmed  about  it  to  sue  for  pardon.     I  wish 

1  could.  I  hope  I  shall,  before  the  day  of  execution 
arrives."  How  would  you  be  shocked  and  distressed,  to 
hear  a  friend  laboring  under  a  wasting  disease  say,  "I 


428  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

know  my  danger,  but  I  cannot  feel  it.  I  have  heard  of 
a  physician  who  has  cured  thousands  under  the  same 
circumstances,  and  has  never  yet  lost  a  patient ;  and  I 
have  no  doubt  either  of  his  willingness  to  hasten  to  my 
relief,  or  of  the  infallibility  of  his  remedies.  But  I  cannot 
apply  to  him,  I  cannot  send  for  him.  I  wish  I  felt  inter- 
est enough  in  the  preservation  of  my  life  to  come  to  a 
decision ;  but  it  is  not  in  my  power.  I  must  wait  till  I 
can  fed  my  danger,  and  then  I  will  send  for  the  physi- 
cian." 

What  would  you  think  of  such  infatuation?  How 
would  you  be  shocked  at  it  I  And  yet  your  own  case 
differs  from  these  only  by  exhibiting  still  greater  infatu- 
ation. It  is  not  your  life  that  depends  upon  your  feeling 
the  danger  and  fleeing  from  it,  but  your  immortal  soul ; 
and  if  you  had  a  thousand  lives  to  lose,  it  would  be 
nothing  in  comparison  with  the  everlasting  pangs  of 
"the  second  death." 

I.  I  begin  to  see  the  folly  and  madness  of  my  inde- 
cision in  a  clearer  light  than  I  ever  did  before.  I  have 
delayed  too  long.  I  ought  to  be  in  earnest.  I  wonder 
I  am  not ;  but  still  the  question  returns,  how  can  I  see 
my  sins,  and  feel  my  danger,  and  repent  ?  It  seems  to 
me  impossible. 

P.  But  wherein  does  the  impossibility  lie  ?  Is  there 
any  thing  in  the  way  but  disinclination,  aversion  to  holi- 
ness, and  love  of  sin  ?  Let  me  now  put  you  to  the  test. 
Will  you  now,  without  any  more  delay,  take  up  the  sub- 
ject of  religion  in  earnest,  and  do  what  you  can  to  se- 
cure the  salvation  of  your  soul  ?  Tell  me,  my  dear  young 
friend,  are  you  ready  ? 

I.  (After  a  pause.)  I  do  not  like  to  make  any  prom- 
ise, lest  I  should  break  it ;  for  that,  you  know,  would  be 
worse  than  not  to  promise  at  all. 

P.  Just  stop  and  consider  into  what  a  maze  of  con- 


PREPARATORY  WORK.  429 

tradictions  your  deceitful  heart  is  leading  you.  You 
want  to  be  saved  ;  you  believe  in  the  necessity  and  duty 
of  repentance,  and  yet  you  are  not  willing  to  engage  to 
do  any  thing,  lest  you  should  break  your  promise.  Your 
promise  to  do  what  ?  Why,  to  take  up  the  subject  at 
once,  and  do  what  you  can.  How  much  does  that  ship- 
wrecked sailor  want  to  be  saved  from  drowning,  who 
will  make  no  effort  to  reach  the  life-boat  which  is  pull- 
ing off  from  the  shore  to  rescue  him  ?  How  much  does 
that  sick  man  want  to  recover,  who  will  neither  promise 
to  take  the  only  medicine  that  can  do  him  any  good,  nor 
take  it  without  promising  ?  And  how  much  do  you  want 
to  be  saved  from  sinking  into  the  blackness  of  darkness 
for  ever,  when  you  are  neither  willing  to  pledge  yourself 
to  do  any  thing,  nor  to  do  any  thing  without  a  pledge  ? 
How  much  does  that  prisoner  want  his  liberty,  who  will 
not  come  out,  or  even  try  to  cast  off  his  fetters,  when 
the  door  is  set  wide  open  ? 

I.  I  cannot  answer  you  now.  I  am  bewildered.  I 
want  time  to  think  of  the  subject.     I  will  call  again. 

P.  You  want  more  time  !  What  if  you  should  die  in 
a  fit,  before  you  get  home  ?  "  Behold,  tiow  is  the  accept- 
ed time;  behold,  now  is  the  day  of  salvation."  "Boast 
not  thyself  of  to-morrow,  for  thou  knowest  not  what  a 
day  may  bring  forth." 


CONVERSATION  II. 

Pastor.  (In  the  inquiry  room.)  What  progress  have 
you  made,  my  young  friend,  since  I  last  saw  you  ?  Have 
you  given  your  heart  to  God  ? 

Inquirer.  I  cannot  say  that  I  have ;  but  I  hope  I  have 
made  some  progress.  I  have  taken  up  the  subject  with 
the  determination  to  seek  till  I  find.  I  used,  you  know, 
to  indulge  in  some  bad  habits.     From  these  I  have  en- 


430  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

tirely  broken  off.  I  never  used  to  pray,  nor  hardly  ever 
to  read  the  Bible,  nor  to  attend  any  sort  of  religious 
meetings  except  on  the  Sabbath.  But  now  I  read  the 
Scriptures  regularly,  and  pray  morning  and  evening, 
and  I  do  not  mean  to  be  absent  from  a  single  meeting, 
if  I  can  help  it.  In  short,  I  mean  to  perform  every  duty, 
to  do  all  I  can,  and  I  hope  in  this  way  to  conciliate  the 
divine  favor. 

P.  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  you  have  forsaken  your 
old  companions  In  sin,  that  you  pray  and  read  the  word 
of  God,  and  punctually  attend  on  the  means  of  grace. 
All  this  is  right  and  necessary ;  but  according  to  your 
own  account,  it  is  merely  ^preparatory  work.  You  are 
not  yet  a  Christian,  but  using  means  to  become  one? 
you  are  not  in  the  ark  of  safety,  but  going  towards  it? 
Now,  suppose  you  should  die  before  you  get  there,  or  in 
other  words,  while  you  are  taking  what  you  seem  to  re- 
gard as  the  preparatory  steps  ?  What  would  become  of 
you  ?  Could  you  go  up  to  the  bar  of  God,  and  plead,  that 
when  arrested  by  the  stroke  of  death,  you  was  doing 
"  many  things,"  and  even  trying  to  repent  ?  Would  such 
a  plea  avail  ?  ''  God  now  commandeth  all  men  every- 
where to  repent ;"  but  when  and  where  has  he  said  that 
all  or  any  of  them  must  try  to  repent?  Mere  trying 
falls  just  as  far  short  of  repenting,  as  trying  to  speak 
does  of  speaking,  or  trying  to  walk  does  of  walking. 
When  God  requires  you  to  do  a  certain  thing,  it  is  vain 
to  think  of  putting  him  off  with  something  else,  as  either 
preparatory  or  collateral.  You  must  do  the  very  thing,  or 
you  lose  the  blessing. 

You  seem  to  think,  that  although  you  are  not  yet  a 
Christian,  you  are  in  a  fair  way  to  become  one ;  you 
have  set  out,  and  are  a  good  deal  nearer  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  than  you  was  a  month  ago.  Now,  supposing 
this  were  really  the  case,  it  would  be  madness  to  linger 


PREPARATORY  WORK.  431 

as  you  do,  when  the  brittle  thread  of  life  may  be  cut  at 
any  moment.  If  you  should  be  within  one  step  of  repent- 
ance when  you  die,  you  would  as  certainly  perish  as  if 
you  had  been  ever  so  far  off.  The  drowning  mariner 
who  only  almost  reaches  the  plank  that  was  thrown  over 
to  save  him,  sinks  to  rise  no  more.  The  man-slayer  who 
only  almost  reached  the  city  of  refuge  before  the  avenger 
of  blood  overtook  him,  might  as  well  have  been  cloven 
down  a  hundred  miles  off. 

Let  me  tell  you,  my  young  friend,  and  prove  to  you, 
that  instead  of  being  better,  you  are  at  this  moment 
more  sinful  in  the  sight  of  a  holy  God,  than  you  was 
when  this  revival  began.  You  certainly  have  made  no 
atonement  for  the  sins  which  you  had  committed  before 
that  time.  They  will  stand  charged  against  you,  just  as 
if  you  had  not  bestowed  a  thought  upon  the  subject  of 
religion.  And  have  you  not  since  committed  any  sin? 
You  will  not,  you  cannot  answer  this  question  in  the 
negative.  Your  own  conscience  testifies  that  you  have 
sinned  every  day,  and  every  waking  hour.  These  sins 
are  added  to  the  long  black  catalogue  in  the  book  of 
God's  remembrance — so  that  you  are  a  greater  sinner 
to-day  than  you  was  yesterday ;  and  if  it  were  possible 
for  you  to  live  a  thousand  years  and  to  spend  the  whole 
time  in  reading  and  prayer  without  regeneration  and 
without  repentance  and  faith,  you  would  be  vastly  more 
sinful,  and  of  course  more  unworthy  of  pardon  than  you 
are  now. 

I.  (In  a  desponding  tone,)  I  suppose  it  is  so ;  but 
how  discouraging  I  According  to  this  view  of  the  case, 
I  might  just  as  well  have  remained  as  I  was  to  this  hour. 
It  is  all  lost  labor. 

P.  Yes,  all  that  you  have  ever  done  or  can  do  to 
weave  a  robe  of  self-righteousness,  is  lost  labor.  "  The 
bed  is  shorter  than  that  a  man  can  stretch  himself  on  it, 


432  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

and  the  covering  is  narrower  than  that  he  can  wrap  him- 
self in  it."  Salvation  is  a  free  gift,  and  not  a  reward 
bestowed.  "Not  by  works  of  righteousness  which  we 
have  done,  but  according  to  his  mercy  he  saved  us  by 
the  washing  of  regeneration  and  renewing  of  the  Holy 
Ghost."  God  has  infinite  blessings  to  give,  but  none  to 
sell.  He  has  pardons  for  the  penitent  and  believing,  but 
he  makes  no  compromises.  He  looks  upon  no  other 
righteousness,  save  that  of  his  beloved  Son. 


CONVERSATION   III. 

Pastor.  (In  the  inquiry  room.)  I  am  glad  to  see  you 
here  once  more,  this  evening,  and  hope  you  have  come 
with  a  new  heart,  and  a  new  song  in  your  mouth. 

Inquirer.  I  wish  I  could  say  that  I  have ;  but  I  do 
not  see  that  I  make  any  progress  at  all.  All  my  strug- 
gling and  striving  does  not  bring  me  a  step  nearer  to 
the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

P.  Indeed,  I  am  more  and  more  alarmed  for  you. 
You  have  held  out  a  great  while.  The  Spirit  of  God  will 
not  always  continue  to  strive.  Excuse  yourself  as  you 
may,  the  sin  lieth  at  your  own  door.  And  why,  my  dear 
young  friend,  will  you  not  throw  down  the  weapons  of 
your  rebellion,  and  submit  unconditionally  to  Christ  ? 

I.  I  have  no  power  to  submit,  and  how  can  I  get  the 
power? 

P.  Have  no  power  to  submit!  What  power  does  it 
require  to  submit — to  leave  off  contending  with  God — to 
cast  yourself  down  at  the  foot  of  his  throne  as  a  perish- 
ing sinner  ?  It  is  the  prerogative  of  power  to  resist,  not 
to  submit.  What  would  you  think  were  a  garrison,  when 
closely  besieged  and  reduced  to  the  last  extremity,  to 
use  this  plea  for  not  surrendering  the  fortress — we  have 
no  power  to  submit?    Thousands  have  had  no  power  to 


DONE  ALL  HE  COULD.  433 

hold  out  against  a  besieging  enemy  ;  but  who  was  ever 
too  weak  to  surrender  at  discretion?  How  strangely 
would  it  sound  in  your  ears  were  a  perverse  and  rebel- 
lious child,  when  under  chastisement,  to  plead  as  an  ex- 
cuse for  not  confessing  his  fault  and  promising  amend- 
ment, that  he  has  no  power  to  submit ! 

And  yet,  when  God  commands  you  to  repent,  to  sub- 
mit at  the  foot  of  the  cross  as  a  poor  sinner,  you  try  to 
quiet  your  conscience  by  pleading  that  you  have  no  pow- 
er to  yield.  Why,  the  difficulty  with  you  is,  that  you 
have  too  much  fowtr,  as  you  have  hitherto  used  it.  You 
have  a  power  of  resistance  which  is  perfectly  astonishing-, 
and  which  nothing  short  of  Omnipotence  can  overcome. 
You  have  held  out,  day  after  day  and  week  after  week, 
against  motives  which  one  would  think  must  be  enough 
to  conquer  a  world — against  threatenings  and  invita- 
tions and  promises  the  most  urgent  and  alluring  that 
were  ever  addressed  to  rebels  under  the  curse  of  G-od's 
holy  law.  What  you  need  is,  to  have  this  terrible  pow- 
er of  resistance  overcome.  All  you  want  is  the  right 
disposition,  a  "humble  and  contrite  heart;"  and  thatj^ou 
lack  this  is  your  own  fault. 

I.  I  cannot  answer  your  arguments  ;  but  although 
I  begin  to  see  the  subject  in  a  new  light,  it  does  still 
appear  to  me  that  I  have  been  honest  and  sincere  in 
trying  to  do  all  I  can ;  and  will  not  a  God  of  infinite 
compassion  pity  my  weakness,  and  make  up  the  defi- 
ciency ? 

P.  God  will  never  give  up  his  rightful  claims.  He 
will  never  cease  to  command,  however  you  may  refuse 
to  obey ;  and  if  you  die  in  your  sins,  he  will  justify  the 
reasonableness  of  your  condemnation  before  the  assem- 
bled universe.  Admitting  the  validity  of  your  plea, 
there  will  be  a  great  wonder  in  the  day  of  judgment : 
you,  of  all  the  countless  millions  of  the  human  family, 

Rev.  Sketches.  19 


434  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

will  stand  alone,  as  one  that  did  all  he  could  to  comply 
with  the  conditions  of  salvation — and  yet  was  not  saved. 
Every  one  who  perishes  will  be  self-condemned.  "Thou 
hast  destroyed  thyself,"  will  ring  louder  and  louder  in 
his  ears,  as  he  sinks  deeper  and  deeper  in  "the  black- 
ness of  darkness  for  ever." 

I,  What  more,  then,  can  I  do  ?  I  am  sure  I  am  will- 
ing to  do  every  thing  that  God  requires,  cost  what  it 
will. 

P.  No,  my  young  friend,  you  are  not  willing.  Here 
lies  the  fatal  mistake.  You  deceive  yourself.  You  want 
to  be  saved.  You  shrink  back  from  the  bottomless 
gulf,  upon  the  brink  of  which  you  are  standing.  You 
would  doubtless  give  the  world,  if  you  owned  it  all,  for 
the  ransom  of  your  soul ;  but  you  will  not  give  your 
heart  to  God — ^you  will  not  repent — "you  will  not  come 
to  Christ,  that  you  might  have  life."  If  there  is  any  thing 
in  the  way  but  your  own  obstinate  and  wicked  heart,  do 
tell  me  what  it  is.  Does  God  stand  in  the  way?  do  I 
stand  in  the  way  ?  do  any  of  your  Christian  friends  ?  do 
your  sinful  companions  ?  They  may  try  to  dissuade,  but 
they  cannot  hinder  you  from  coming  to  the  cross.  The 
diflSculty  is  within,  and  not  without. 


CONVERSATION  IV. 

Pastor.  You  will  recollect,  Mr.  A ,  that  I  spoke 

with  you  last  evening  in  the  inquiry  meeting ;  but  not 
having  time  to  enter  into  your  case  fully,  I  have  called 
this  morning  to  renew  the  conversation.  When  I  urged 
upon  you  the  duty  of  immediate  repentance,  and  entreat- 
ed you  not  to  delay  another  hour  or  moment,  I  think 
your  answer  was,  that  you  had  not  been  under  convic- 
tion long  enough.     Did  I  understand  you  correctly  ? 


NOT  LONG  CONVICTED.  435 

Inquirer.  Yes,  sir,  you  did.  That  is  one  of  my  diffi- 
culties. It  is  scarcely  thi'ee  days  since  I  began  to  think 
seriously  on  the  subject ;  and  having  been  all  my  life  so 
stupid  and  wicked,  how  can  I  turn  right  about  and  re- 
pent at  once  ? 

P.  How  long  do  you  think  you  ought  to  be  under 
conviction,  before  you  repent  ? 

I.  I  cannot  t^ll  exactly  ;  but  it  seems  as  if  a  sinner 
must  have  some  time  to  think,  and  make  up  his  mind, 
before  he  acts. 

P.  Well,  here  is  the  Bible — ^will  you  turn  to  some 
passage  which  justifies  him  in  delaying  ? 

I.  I  have  read  the  Bible  so  little  and  so  carelessly, 
that  if  there  were  a  hundred  I  should  not  be  able  to  find 
them.  But  if  I  was  as  familiar  with  the  Scriptures  as 
you  are,  I  presume  I  could  find  many  such  passages. 

P.  No,  my  friend,  not  oTie,  if  you  had  committed  every 
word  of  the  Bible  to  memory.  There  are  texts  enough 
on  the  other  side.  ''  God  now  commandeth  all  men  every- 
where to  repent."  "To-day,"  even  to-day,  "  after  so  long 
a  time,  if  you  will  hear  his  voice,  harden  not  your  heart." 
This  is  the  current  language  of  the  Bible  on  the  subject. 
It  does  not  allow  you  a  day — no,  not  a  moment — to  obtain 
clearer  convictions  of  your  guilt  and  danger  before  you 
yield  to  Christ.  But  how  much  longer  indulgence  do 
you  want  ?  Will  one  day  satisfy  you  ?  will  two  ?  will  a 
week? 

I.  It  seems  as  if  I  ought  to  repent  and  give  my  heart 
to  God  in  less  than  a  loeek;  but  a  day  or  two  longer, 
devoted  to  serious  reflection,  cannot  be  much  compared 
with  all  my  life  spent  in  sin  and  folly. 

P.  No  ;  but  have  you  any  promise  of  living  a  day  or 
two  longer  ?  What  if  God  should  say,  "  Thou  fool,  this 
night  thy  soul  shall  be  required  of  thee  ?"  What  will 
become  of  you?    Will  your  waiting  for  more  time  to 


436  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

think  of  the  subject  save  you?  Besides,  it  seems  as  if 
God  was  now  striving  with  you.  But  what  if  he  should 
in  anger  withdraw  his  Spirit  the  next  hour,  and  say, 
This  man  is  joined  to  his  idols  ;  he  will  not  forsake  them 
at  once,  he  will  not  repent  of  sin  :   "  let  him  alone  !" 

I.  I  see  the  danger  of  delay.  I  may  die,  I  know,  at 
any  moment,  or  God  may  leave  me  ;  but  what  can  I  do  ? 
I  am  not  fit  to  come  to  Christ.  I  want  to  be  better  pre- 
pared before  I  come. 

P.  And  when  will  you  be  any  more  fit  than  you  are 
now?  What  can  you  expect  to  gain  by  delay?  Will 
holding  out  against  God  a  day  or  a  week  longer  make 
you  any  better?  Are  you  not  adding  sin  to  sin,  and 
growing  more  and  more  unworthy  to  come,  every  hour 
you  live  ?  Will  waiting  cancel  any  of  your  past  trans- 
gressions ;  and  is  not  a  new  page  written  against  you 
every  day  in  the  book  of  remembrance  ?  Did  the  prodi- 
gal son,  "when  he  came  to  himself,"  wait  to  strip  off 
his  rags  and  make  himself  more  fit  to  return  to  his 
father ;  or  did  he  go  just  as  he  was,  in  the  last  extrem- 
ity of  guilt  and  famine,  and  cry,  "  Father,  I  have  sinned 
against  heaven  and  before  thee,  and  am  no  more  worthy 
to  be  called  thy  son  ?"  Did  the  publican  wait  to  make 
himself  more  worthy  of  divine  compassion,  before  he 
"  smote  upon  his  breast  and  cried,  God  be  merciful  to  me 
a  sinner  ?" 

0,  my  friend,  if  you  think  that  by  waiting  you  can 
make  yourself  any  more  fit  or  worthy  of  being  saved, 
you  mistake  the  ground  of  acceptance  altogether.  Salva- 
tion is  wholly  of  grace.  No  sinner  was  ever  accepted  on 
account  of  his  own  fitness,  his  own  ivorthiness,  nor  ever 
will  be.  "  The  Son  of  man  came  to  seek  and  to  save  that 
which  was  lost."  He  does  not  say,  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye 
that  3iTefit,"  but,  "all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy-laden, 
and  I  will  give  you  rest."     No,  you  must  come  just  as 


NOT  LOXG  CONVICTED.  431 

you  are,  poor  and  wretched  and  blind  and  naked  and  in 
want  of  all  things,  if  you  come  at  all.  On  no  other  terms 
can  you  be  received.  Christ  has  thrones  and  crowns  to 
give,  but  not  a  morsel  of  the  bread  of  life  or  a  drop  of 
living  water  to  sell.  "By  grace  you  are  saved  through 
faith  ;  and  that  not  of  yourselves  :  it  is  the  gift  of  God.'* 

I.  Yes  ;  I  see,  I  see  at  last,  that  it  must  be  so ;  but 
I  am  such  a  great  sinner,  that  I  dare  not  come.  I  am 
afraid  Christ  will  not  receive  me. 

P.  That  your  sins  are  more  heinous  in  the  sight  of 
God,  than  you  have  ever  imagined,  I  have  no  doubt.  But 
for  whom  did  Christ  suffer  and  die,  if  not  for  great  sin- 
ners— for  David  and  Manasseh  and  Mary  Magdalene  and 
Paul,  as  well  as  for  Samuel  and  Josiah  and  Daniel  and 
John  ?  Are  there  any  little  sinners,  in  the  sense  which  you 
mean — any  with  whom  God  is  but  a  little  displeased  ?  I 
am  sure  I  have  never  met  with  such  a  one  ;  and  if  there 
were,  are  the  offers  of  salvation  addressed  exclusively 
to  any  class  of  sinners  ?  Does  Christ  say  to  one,  I  invite 
you  ;  and  to  another,  I  invite  you  to  the  gospel  feast ; 
but  to  a  third.  You  must  not  come — "you  are  so  un- 
worthy, so  great  a  sinner,  that  I  cannot  allow  you  to 
taste  of  my  supper  ?"  Does  he  not  say  to  his  servants, 
"  Go  out  quickly  into  the  streets  and  lanes  of  the  city, 
and  bring  in  hither  the  poor  and  the  maimed,  the  halt 
and  the  blind,  that  my  house  may  be  filled?" 

I.  (With  great  emotion.)  Still,  I  have  lived  so  long  in 
sin,  and  rejected  so  many  offers,  I  am  afraid  he  will  not 
;eceive  me.    What  shall  I  do  ? 

P.  What  shall  you  do  ?  Why,  my  dear  sir,  your  duty 
is  perfectly  plain.  You  say  that  you  are  a  great  sinner  ; 
and  you  ought  to  repent  and  trust  in  Christ  immediately. 
There  is  a  subtle  delusion  at  the  bottom  of  your  difficulty, 
which  I  fear  has  ruined  thousands  of  souls.  You  must 
have  some  pledge  that  Christ  will  save  you,  before  you 


438  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

come  to  him ;  and  when  you  have  it,  you  are  not  satis- 
fied. To  all  your  other  sins,  you  add  the  guilt  of  dis- 
trust of  his  great  and  precious  promises.  You  vir- 
tually charge  him  with  insincerity  and  falsehood.  You 
do  not  intend  it ;  but  just  look  at  the  excuse,  and  tell 
me,  if  you  can,  what  less  it  amounts  to.  You  are  afraid 
that  Christ  will  not  receive  you  if  you  do  come,  when  he 
tells  you  expressly  that  he  will.  You  would  be  glad  to 
come,  you  wish  to  comply  with  his  offers,  but  if  you  do 
he  will  not  receive  you.  This,  it  seems  to  me,  is  your 
real  position.  This  is  the  deception  which  you  have  been 
practising  upon  yourself,  on  the  very  brink  of  destruc- 
tion.    Dare  you  rest  here  ? 

L  No,  no,  I  dare  not  any  longer.     Oh,  what  shall 
I  do? 


CONVERSATION  V. 

Pastor.  You  see,  my  young  friend,  that  many  are 
pressing  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  I  am  anxious 
to  know  how  you  feel. 

Inquirer.  I  feel  as  if  religion  was  very  important,  and 
I  hope  I  shall  not  be  left. 

P.  I  was  afraid  you  did  not  feel  much  interest  on  the 
subject,  as  I  have  rarely  seen  you  at  our  meetings.  You 
say  you  hope  you  shall  not  be  left.  Let  me  ask  you 
what  you  are  doing  to  obtain  "  the  pearl  of  great  price  ?" 

I.  I  acknowledge  I  am  not  doing  much — and  how 
can  I?  The  work  is  all  of  God,  and  I  am  waiting  for 
the  influence  of  his  Spirit.  Ho  has  awakened  and  con- 
verted a  great  many,  and  I  hope  he  will,  in  his  own 
time,  convert  me. 

P.  But  what  if  he  should  not  ?  Here  you  are,  a  sin- 
ner, saying  with  the  sluggard,  "A  little  more  sleep,  a 
little  more  slumber,  a  little  more  folding  of  the  hands  to 


WAITING  FOR  THE  SPIRIT.  439 

sleep,"  and  resting  upon  a  vague  hope  that  God  will 
awaken  you.  What  reason  have  you  to  expect  it  ?  Has 
he  given  you  any  promise  to  that  effect  ?  Is  he  under  any 
obligation  to  save  you.  Will  he  do  you  any  injustice  ■ 
if  he  passes  you  by  ?  And  if  he  should  pass  you  by,  what 
will  become  of  you  ? 

I.  If  he  should,  I  must  be  lost,  of  course  ;  but  I  hope 
he  will  not :  I  trust  he  will  not.  Does  not  the  Bible 
somewhere  say,  "  Wait  patiently  for  the  Lord  ?"  and  in 
another  place,  "It  is  good  that  a  man  should  both  hope 
and  quietly  wait  for  the  salvation  of  the  Lord  ?" 

P.  It  does  ;  but  you  entirely  misunderstand  these 
passages,  if  you  suppose  they  allow  you  still  to  continue 
in  sin  and  unbelief.  They  imply  an  act  of  humble  trust 
in  God,  and  his  covenant  faithfulness.  How  did  the 
Psalmist  and  other  holy  men  of  old  wait  for  the  salva- 
tion of  God  ?  Did  they  listlessly  fold  their  arms  as  you 
do  and  hope  for  the  best,  and  sleep  on  ?  No :  just  take 
the  Bible  and  read  for  yourself.  They  waited  on  God  in 
fervent  and  believing  prayer  for  those  blessings  and  de- 
liverances which  he  has  promised  to  his  people. 

You  are  waiting  God's  time  to  arrest  you  and  bring 
you  into  his  kingdom.  God's  time  !  My  dear  young 
friend,  what  do  you  mean  by  God's  time?  When  is 
it — to-day,  or  to-morrow,  now,  or  a  week  or  a  month 
hence  ?  Point  me  to  one  solitary  text,  if  you  can,  which 
justifies  you  in  delaying  one  hour  for  God  to  awa- 
ken you,  or  which  authorizes  you  to  expect  that  he 
will  come,  if  you  thus  delay.  What  a  fatal  quietus  to 
your  conscience !  What  a  false  and  ruinous  security ! 
What  is  God's  time,  in  the  only  proper  meaning  which 
can  be  attached  to  the  inquiry?  What  does  he  say  in 
his  word  ?  "  Behold,  now  is  the  accepted  time  ;  behold, 
now  is  the  day  of  salvation."  "  God  now  commandeth 
all  men  everywhere  to  repent."     "Boast  not  thyself  of 


440  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

to-morrow  ;  for  thou  knowest  not  what  a  day  may  bring 

forth."    What  liberty  or  encouragement,  my  dear  A , 

do  these  Scriptures  give  you  to  continue  in  your  sinful 
unbelief  ? 

I.  What  else  can  I  do  ?  I  have  no  power  to  awaken 
myself ;   much  less^  to  change  my  own  heart. 

P.  That  is,  you  mean,  or  ought  to  mean,  that  you 
have  at  present  no  disposition  to  make  religion  the  all- 
important  subject  of  inquiry — ^that  you  have  no  heart  to 
break  off  your  sins  by  righteousness,  and  your  iniquity 
by  turning  unto  God — that  there  is  in  you  a  wicked 
disinclination  to  do  what  God  commands  you  to  do.  You 
have  power  enough  on  the  other  side,  in  opposition  to 
God,  to  astonish  the  universe. 

You  are  waiting,  you  say,  for  him  to  come  and  save 
you.  How  are  you  waiting  ?  In  the  use  of  the  means  of 
salvation  which  he  has  appointed — in  reading  the  Scrip- 
tures, in  prayer,  in  devout  attendance  upon  the  preaching 
of  his  word  ?  No  ;  but  in  the  neglect  of  all,  or  nearly 
all  these  duties.  Is  this  the  way  in  which  the  farmer 
waits  for  the  blessing  of  the  Lord  ?  Does  he  fold  his  arms 
and  say,  I  will  wait  for  the  harvest  till  it  pleases  God  to 
bring  it  to  me  ;  or  does  he  "  break  up  the  fallow  ground," 
and  sow  the  seed  ?  Were  you  starving,  would  you  wait 
for  God  to  send  the  ravens  to  feed  you,  or  would  you 
make  every  possible  effort  to  relieve  yourself?  What 
did  the  prodigal  son  do,  when  he  came  to  himself?  He 
said,  "  I  will  arise  and  go  to  my  father,"  and  he  went. 
Had  he  remained  among  the  swine,  he  would  have 
perished.  How  was  it  in  the  days  of  John  the  Baptist  ? 
The  kingdom  of  heaven  suffered  violence,  and  the  violent 
took  it  by  force.  What  was  the  answer  of  Christ  to  the 
question.  Are  there  few  that  be  saved?  "Strive  to  enter 
in  at  the  strait  gate  ;  for  many,  I  say  unto  you,  will 
seek  to  enter  in,  and  shall  not  be  able."    What  were 


UNPARDONABLE  SIN.  441 

the  exhortations  of  his  inspired  apostles?  "Draw  nigh 
to  God,  and  he  will  draw  nigh  to  you.  Cleanse  your 
hands,  ye  sinners,  and  purify  your  hearts,  ye  double- 
minded.  Be  afflicted,  and  mourn,  and  weep.  Humble 
yourselves  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  he  shall  lift  you 
up?"  "Awake,  thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise  from  the 
dead,  and  Christ  shall  give  thee  light."  And  how  is  it 
that  sinners  in  this  revival,  or  any  other,  "make  their 
calling  and  election  sure  ?"  Is  it  not  by  fleeing  from  the 
wrath  to  come,  and  laying  hold  on  eternal  life  ? 

Yours,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  is  no  uncommon  case.  I 
am  sure  it  is  not  too  late,  if  you  will  now  rise  and  flee 
to  the  strong-hold;  for  you  are  yet  a  prisoner  of  hope. 
Your  case,  though  alarming,  is  not  desperate ;  I  hear  a 
voice  from  heaven,  "Let  the  wicked  forsake  his  way, 
and  the  unrighteous  man  his  thoughts  ;  and  let  him 
return  unto  the  Lord,  who  will  have  mercy  upon  him ; 
and  to  our  God,  for  he  will  abundantly  pardon." 


CONVERSATION  YI. 

Pastor.  (To  one  in  the  inquiry  meeting  who  had  long 
been  in  a  state  of  extreme  depression.)  Is  the  great 
controversy  between  God  and  your  rebellious  heart 
settled  ? 

IxQUiRER.  0  no ;  and  how  can  it  ever  be  ?  I  am 
afraid  I  have  committed  the  unpardonable  sin. 

P.  What  makes  you  think  so  ?  Have  you  openly  rid- 
iculed and  opposed  the  revival,  and  tried  to  stop  it  ? 

I.  If  I  have  not,  I  have  done  that  which  is  worse.  I 
have  resisted  the  Holy  Spirit.  God  has  called,  and  I 
have  refused.  He  has  said,  "  Turn  you,  turn  you  ;  why 
will  you  die?"  and  I  have  virtually  answered,  "Depart 
from  me  ;  I  desire  not  the  knowledge  of  thy  ways." 
19* 


442  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

P.  You  say  you  have  resisted  the  Holy  Spirit.  Have 
you  done  it  maliciously?  Have  you  spoken  against 
Him,  and  ascribed  your  distress  to  satanic,  or  some 
other  malignant  influence,  contrary  to  the  convictions  of 
your  own  conscience,  thus  doing  "despite  to  the  Spirit 
of  grace  ?" 

I.  I  desire  to  be  thankful  that  I  have  not  yet  been 
left  to  pour  out  the  wickedness  of  my  heart  in  any  such 
way.  The  bare  thought  makes  me  shudder.  But  still 
it  seems  to  me,  that  for  any  one  to  hold  out  so  long  as  I 
have  done,  must  be  unpardonable — must  be  to  sin  be- 
yond forgiveness. 

P.  Has  the  Spirit  entirely  abandoned  you  ?  Have  you 
thrown  off  the  subject  from  your  mind,  and  determined 
to  think  no  more  about  it?  Have  you  no  concern,  no 
feeling ;  no  longer  any  desire  to  be  saved  in  the  way 
which  God  has  appointed  ? 

I.  Oh  that  I  could  be  saved !  But  my  heart,  my 
wicked  heart — I  am  sure  there  never  was  one  so  hard 
as  mine.  I  am  sure  it  will  never  yield,  and  how  can  I 
be  forgiven  ? 

P.  Your  condition  is  indeed  very  alarming.  I  have 
thought  so  for  many  weeks.  It  is  certain  that  if  you  do 
not  repent  and  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  you 
cannot  be  saved.  But  I  see  no  reason  to  think  that  you 
have  committed  the  unpardonable  sin ;  I  mean  the  sin 
which  seals  the  man  over  from  that  hour  to  certain  de- 
struction. I  believe  that  thousands  are  now  in  heaven, 
who  were  once  in  the  very  state  that  you  are  this  morn- 
ing. They  looked  round  for  help,  and  none  came  till  they 
cast  themselves  unconditionally  upon  the  mercy  of  God 
through  a  Redeemer.  Every  sin  has  demerit  and  malig- 
nity enough  to  destroy  the  soul,  if  unrepented  of 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  cry,  "  Peace,  peace,"  when  God 
says,  "There  is  no  peace  to  the  wicked."    You  are  in 


A  DESPONDING  INQUIRER.  443 

great  danger.  You  cannot  resist  the  Spirit  another  mo- 
ment without  adding  sin  to  sin,  and  increasing  the  dan- 
ger ;  and  if  you  hold  out  against  God  to  the  last,  you 
will  as  certainly  perish  as  if  you  had  committed  the  sin 
against  the  Holy  Ghost.  Ail  sin  is  alike  unpardonable, 
after  death.  But  it  is  a  stratagem  of  the  great  adversary 
to  persuade  sinners  that  they  are  given  over  to  final 
reprobation,  when  he  cannot  hinder  them  from  inquir- 
ing and  striving  in  any  other  way ;  and  I  think  this  is 
the  snare  in  which  he  has  caught  you.  Full  well  does 
the  subtle  destroyer  know,  that  if  he  can  make  you 
despair  of  mercy — if  he  can  hinder  you  from  "fleeing 
from  the  wrath  to  come,"  he  is  sure  of  his  prey.  My 
fears  are,  not  that  you  have  committed  the  unpardonable 
sin,  but  that  you  will  not  accept  of  pardon  on  the  humil- 
iating terms  of  the  gospel. 

I.  Do  you  really  believe,  then,  that  there  is  still  any 
hope  for  me  ? 

P.  Certainly  I  do.  I  have  no  doubt  of  it.  The  door  of 
mercy  yet  stands  open.  Turn,  I  beseech  you,  turn  to 
the  strong-hold  while  you  are  a  prisoner  of  hope. 


CONVERSATION  VII. 

Inquirer.  (In  a  desponding  tone,)  Po  you  think  I 
shall  ever  come  to  Christ  ? 

Pastor.  I  do  not  know.  I  am  afraid  you  never  will. 
You  have  held  out  so  long,  and  your  heart  is  so  hard, 
that  the  prospect  is  exceedingly  dark.  I  do  not  know 
what  more  powerful  motives  can  be  addressed  to  you, 
than  you  have  resisted.  You  certainly  have  not  grown 
any  better  by  delay.  On  the  contrary,  the  habit  of  sin- 
ning gains  strength  every  day  that  it  is  indulged,  and 
of  course  the  prospect  grows  darker  and  darker. 


444  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

I.  What  more  can  I  do  ? 

P.  What  have  you  done  ? 

I.  I  have  read  the  Bible  and  prayed,  and  attended 
all  the  inquiry  meetings,  and  been  hoping  every  day  that 
my  heart  would  bow,  and  I  should  find  relief ;  but  it  all 
does  no  good,  and  it  seems  as  if  I  might  as  well  give 
up  first  as  last. 

P.  Give  up  what  ?  Give  up  your  heart  to  God  ?  or 
dismiss  the  subject,  and  think  no  more  about  it  ?  If  you 
mean  the  former,  you  are  perfectly  correct.  It  is  more 
than  time  that  you  had  given  your  heart  to  God.  But  if 
you  mean  that  you  may  as  well  give  up  seeking,  and  re- 
turn to  your  former  stupidity  first  as  last,  you  amaze  me. 
There  is  too  much  reason  to  fear  that  you  have  not  yet 
seen  "the  plague  of  your  own  heart."  If  you  dismiss 
the  subject  now,  it  will  in  all  probability  settle  the 
question  for  ever.  You  may  never  witness  another  re- 
vival ;  and  if  j^ou  should,  it  may  be  only  to  "  behold,  and 
despise  and  wonder  and  perish." 

I.  I  know  it ;  and  when  I  think  of  it,  it  makes  me 
tremble.  But  what  shall  I  do  ?  I  am  sure  I  desire  to  be 
saved,  and  would  repent  if  I  could. 

P.  Do  you  mean,  then,  to  cast  the  blame  upon  God  ? 

I.  Certainly  I  do  not.     How  can  you  think  so  ? 

P.  Does  he  not  require,  does  he  not  command  you  to 
repent  and  give  yourself  to  Christ  ? 

I.  If  I  believe  the  Bible,  I  must  believe  that  he  does. 

P.  And  yet  you  say  you  would  repent  if  you  could. 
Is  not  this  shifting  the  blame  ofi*  from  yourself?  And 
upon  whom,  if  not  upon  God — either  for  requiring  you 
to  repent,  or  for  not  giving  you  a  penitent  heart,  in  spite 
of  your  resistance  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ?  I  know,  my  dear 
young  friend,  what  you  want.  You  want  to  have  me  en- 
courage you ;  and  I  would  do  it  with  all  my  heart,  if  I 
could  in  faithfulness  to  my  Master  and  to  your  precious 


A  TREMBLING  HOPE.  445 

soul.  You  would  be  glad  to  have  me  say  that  I  think 
you  will  by  and  by  repent,  if  you  keep  on  as  you  have 
done  ;  but  I  dare  not  say  it.  I  do  not  see  that  you  are 
any  neai'er  the  kingdom  of  heaven  than  you  were  a  month 
ago  ;  and  how  can  I  encourage  you  ?  I  do  not  know 
what  God  of  his  infinite  mercy  may  do  ;  but  all  the 
encouragement  I  can  give,  when  you  ask  me  what  you 
must  do,  is,  *'  Seek  the  Lord,  while  he  may  be  found ; 
call  upon  him  while  he  is  near."  "  Let  the  wicked  for- 
sake his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  man  his  thoughts : 
and  let  him  return  unto  the  Lord,  who  will  have  mercy 
upon  him;  and  to  our  God,  who  will  abundantly  pardon." 
"  The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say.  Come.  And  let  him  that 
heareth  say.  Come.  And  let  him  that  is  athirst  come  ; 
and  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely." 
Indeed,  what  greater  encouragement  can  you  desire, 
than  is  found  in  these  and  similar  passages  of  Scripture  ? 
"I  cannot  go  beyond  the  word  of  the  Lord,  to  say  less 
or  more."  And  how  can  you  expect,  or  even  wish  to  be 
saved  on  easier  terms  than  these  ? 


CONVERSATION   VIII. 

Pastor.  (In  his  study.)  Walk  in,  my  young  friend  ; 
I  have  been  wishing  to  see  you  for  two  or  three  days, 
but  have  not  found  time  to  call  at  your  room.  When 
you  was  here  last,  you  was  in  great  distress.  You  saw 
what  your  duty  was,  but  your  will  would  not  bow ;  and 
it  seemed  to  you  that  there  was  very  little,  if  any  hope 
in  your  case.  Others  might  be  saved,  but  your  heart 
was  so  hard  that  nothing  could  break  or  melt  it ;  and 
you  left  me  with  the  acknowledgment  that  it  would  be 
perfectly  just  if  God  were  to  cast  you  off  for  ever.  Is 
there  any  change  in  your  feelings? 


446  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

Inquirer.  There  is  a  change  ;  but  I  hardly  know 
whether  it  is  for  the  better  or  the  worse.  The  burden 
which  bowed  me  down  to  the  earth,  and  under  which  it 
appeared  to  me  I  could  not  live  much  longer,  is  gone. 
I  sometimes  fear  that  it  is  because  I  have  grieved  away 
the  Spirit,  and  I  try  to  bring  back  my  distress,  but  cannot. 
I  have  been  calm  for  the  last  twenty-four  hours,  almost 
in  spite  of  myself.     What  to  make  of  it,  I  do  not  know. 

P.  Will  you  tell  me  a  little  more  particularly  what 
the  exercises  of  your  mind  have  been,  since  our  last  in- 
terview ? 

I.  I  felt  that  night  as  if  I  was  utterly  forsaken  of 
heaven  and  earth.  You  told  me  you  could  not  help  me  ; 
and  it  did  seem  as  if  God's  "mercies  were  clean  gone 
for  ever."  I  went  to  my  room,  and  tried  to  pray ;  but 
my  mouth  was  shut,  and  it  seemed  as  if  the  pit  of  de- 
struction was  opening  to  receive  me.  At  length  I  was 
enabled  to  say,  "  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner ;"  and 
it  seemed  all  at  once  as  if  there  was  mercy  for  me. 
Several  texts  of  Scripture  came  to  my  mind,  particu- 
larly these  two  :  "  0  Israel,  thou  hast  destroyed  thyself, 
but  in  me  is  thy  help  ;"  "  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved."  And  I  cried  out, 
"  Lord,  I  believe ;  help  thou  mine  unbelief"  From  that 
moment,  light  gradually  broke  into  my  mind.  I  did  not 
then  think  that  my  heart  was  changed,  and  I  am  now 
by  no  means  sure  of  it,  for  I  have  had  too  much  experi- 
ence of  its  deceitfulness  to  trust  it.  But  of  one  thing  I 
am  certain :  a  great  change  of  some  sort  has  taken 
place  in  my  views  and  feelings.  I  do  not  seem  to  be  the 
same  man  I  was  before.  Every  thing  appears  new. 
The  sun  shines  brighter,  the  flowers  are  more  beauti- 
ful, the  birds  sing  more  sweetly,  the  mountains  lift  up 
their  heads  in  greater  majesty,  and  all  nature  seems  to 
be  praising  God. 


A  TREMBLING  HOPE.  44t 

I  thought,  when  I  was  fighting  against  him,  that  he 
was  a  hard  master,  and  wished  I  could  get  out  of  his 
hands.  I  was  afraid  to  trust  him.  How  strange.  I  do 
not,  I  cannot  feel  so  now.  Every  thing  with  him  is  just 
as  it  should  be  ;  his  government,  his  law,  his  hatred  of 
sin,  his  threatenings — all,  all  is  right. 

The  plan  of  salvation  by  Christ  is  so  new,  that  it 
seems  as  if  I  had  never  heard  of  it  before.  How  won- 
derful that  God  should  send  his  only  begotten  Son  to 
die  for  sinners  I  What  a  glorious  Saviour  !  And  how 
astonishing  that  I  could  have  lived  under  the  light  of 
the  gospel  so  many  years  without  seeing  any  comeliness 
in  him  why  I  should  desire  him.  When  I  think  of  my 
past  life,  it  seems  too  much  to  hope  he  will  forgive  my 
sins  ;  but  I  do  not  see  how  I  can  help  loving  him. 

P.  How  does  the  Bible  appear  to  you? 

I.  0,  quite  like  a  new  book.  I  have  read  it  more  or 
less  from  my  childhood ;  so  that  in  one  sense  it  has  been 
familiar  to  me,  but  in  another  sense  it  has  been  a  sealed 
book.  Every  chapter  I  read  strikes  me  as  it  never  did 
before.  The  words  are  the  same,  but  the  sense  is  dif- 
ferent. The  psalms  and  the  gospels,  especially,  open 
new  fields  of  contemplation  which  I  never  thought  of. 
I  used,  when  my  mother  required  me  to  read  a  given 
number  of  chapters  every  Sabbath-day,  to  be  tired 
of  it ;  but  now  I  should  be  glad  to  read  it  all  the 
time. 

P.  How  is  it  in  respect  to  prayer?  Your  parents 
taught  you  to  pray  when  you  was  a  child,  and  have  been 
urging  the  duty  upon  you  ever  since. 

I.  Yes,  but  it  was  always  a  task.  It  was  mere  lip- 
service.  My  heart  was  not  in  it.  And  as  I  did  not  love 
to  pray  myself,  neither  did  I  want  to  hear  prayer.  Many 
a  time  have  I  hastened  off  to  bed  to  get  rid  of  the  even- 
ing devotions  of  the  family.     After  I  was  awakened,  as 


448  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

I  have  told  you,  I  could  not  pray.  I  tried  again  and 
again ;  but  every  word  was  cold  as  ice,  and  my  con- 
science told  me  it  was  but  solemn  mockery.  I  feel  very 
differently  now.  Why  it  is,  I  cannot  say.  Whether  God 
has  opened  my  mouth,  I  do  not  know.  About  one  thing, 
however,  I  cannot  be  mistaken.  Prayer  is  no  longer  a 
task,  but  a  pleasure.  I  love  to  spread  my  wants  before 
God,  and  to  make  supplication  to  him.  It  may  be  from 
selfish  motives,  or  from  mere  temporary  excitement.  I 
fear  it  is  ;  and  I  ask  your  prayers  that  I  may  not  be 
deceived. 

P.  Is  there  any  change  in  your  feelings  towards 
Christians  ? 

I.  There  is  a  very  great  change ;  and  yet  the  time 
is  so  short,  that  I  do  not  know  whether  I  can  place  any 
dependence  upon  it.  I  used  to  respect  those  whom  I 
thought  sincere  in  their  profession,  though  I  confess 
with  shame  that  I  was  sometimes  censorious,  and  se- 
cretly pleased  to  find  flaws  in  church-members.  I  can- 
not say  that  I  ever  took  pleasure  in  their  society  as 
Christians  ;  my  taste  led  me  to  choose  associates  of  a 
different  character.  How  it  will  be  hereafter,  remains 
to  be  proved.  I  have  yet  had  no  opportunity  to  bring 
myself  to  the  test.  It  seems — and  that  is  all  I  can  say — 
as  if  my  heart  was  drawn  towards  them  as  it  never  was 
till  now,  and  as  if  I  should  be  more  happy  in  their  com- 
pany than  in  any  other. 

P.  If  God  has  chosen  you  to  salvation,  and  called 
you  into  the  kingdom  of  his  dear  Son,  is  it  owing  to  any 
worthiness  in  you,  more  than  in  others  who  are  still  in 
the  broad  way  to  death? 

I.  0  no,  no  ;  certainly  not.  It  is  all  of  grace.  There 
was  nothing  in  me  which  a  holy  God  could  approve — 
nothing  but  wickedness  and  rebellion  in  my  heart.  It 
seems  to  me  that  no  other  heart  is  so  hard,  so  vile  as 


FEAR  OF  EXCITEMENT.  449 

mine  has  been.     If  saved,  I  am  a  brand  plucked  out  of 
the  burning-. 

P.  But  you  have  always  maintained  a  good  moral 
character,  have  you  not  ?  How  then  can  you  look  upon 
yourself  as  the  chief  of  sinners  ? 

I.  God  has  indeed  kept  me  back  from  open  and  scan- 
dalous sins,  and  I  was  ready  to  thank  him  that  I  was 
not  as  other  men  are,  ''extortioners,  unjust,"  and  the 
like  ;  but  Oh,  this  wicked,  deceitful  heart !  This  is  what 
God  looks  at ;  and  who  ever  had  one  more  deceitful  and 
wicked  than  mine  ? 

P.  I  think  you  take  the  right  view  of  the  matter, 
and  I  have  been  greatly  interested  in  this  conversation. 
If  God  has  "made  you  willing  in  the  day  of  his  power,'' 
it  is  certainly  an  act  of  free  and  sovereign  grace  ;  and 
let  him  have  all  the  glory.  If  he  has  "begun  a  good 
work  in  you,"  he  will  carry  it  on  "until  the  day  of  Jesus 
Christ."  But,  my  dear  young  friend,  it  is  a  great  thing 
to  "pass  from  death  unto  life  ;"  and  the  change  in  your 
views  and  feelings  is  so  recent,  that  it  is  difficult  to  say 
how  much  reliance  is  to  be  placed  upon  them.  You  want 
time  for  reflection,  prayer,  reading  the  Scriptures,  and 
self-examination.  You  cannot  tell  how  you  may  feel  a 
few  days  hence.  Time  alone  can  decide  the  question. 
It  is  infinitely  more  important  that  you  should  build 
upon  the  right  foundation,  than  that  you  should  be  num- 
bered or  count  yourself  at  once  with  the  young  converts. 


CONVERSATION  IX. 

Pastor.  Understanding  from  one  of  your  classmates 
that  you  have  expressed  some  interest  in  the  revival,  I 
have  called  this  morning  to  converse  with  you  on  the 
subject. 


450  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

Student.  It  is  true  I  have  thought  more  about  relig- 
ion of  late  than  usual,  and  for  two  or  three  days  have 
felt  extremely  uneasy.  There  is  so  much  said  about  it, 
and  so  much  praying  in  every  college  entry,  that  I  have 
serious  thoughts  of  asking  leave  of  absence  for  a  few 
days,  till  the  excitement  is  over. 

P.  Ask  leave  of  absence  1  you  astonish  me.  How 
dare  you  "flee  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord"  at  such  a 
time  as  this  ?  Nothing  should  induce  you  to  think  of  it 
for  a  moment.  It  would  be  turning  your  back  on  heav- 
en, and  might  land  you  for  ever  beyond  the  reach  of  hope. 
There  cannot  be  greater  madness  than  for  a  sinner  to 
run  away  from  a  revival,  either  through  fear  of  being 
awakened,  or  to  throw  off  conviction.  Many  have  done 
it,  and  thus  lost  their  golden  opportunity  ;  and  where 
are  they  ?  It  argues  infinitely  greater  infatuation  for  a 
sinner  to  withdraw  from  the  midst  of  a  genuine  revival, 
for  fear  of  being  brought  under  its  influence,  than  it 
would  for  an  inmate  of  a  hospital,  with  all  the  livid 
spots  of  a  malignant  plague  upon  him,  to  flee  from  it 
at  the  very  time  when  a  physician  of  preeminent  skill 
was  going  from  ward  to  ward  and  curing  all  who  would 
submit  to  his  prescriptions. 

S.  I  do  not  know  that  I  shall  leave  at  present ;  but 
I  acknowledge  that  I  am  afraid  of  so  much  excitement. 
It  seems  to  me  there  is  great  danger  that  many  will 
get  false  hopes,  who,  if  they  would  look  at  the  subject 
calmly  and  rationally,  might  ultimately  become  Chris- 
tians. 

P.  Will  you  explain  yourself?  The  term  excitement 
is  so  indefinite,  that  I  do  not  know  exactly  what  you 
mean.  Have  you  noticed  any  thing  like  extravagance 
or  enthusiasm  in  any  of  our  meetings  or  elsewhere 
among  the  students?  Do  you  hear  any  vociferous  ap- 
peals to  the  passions  from  our  preachers — any  thing 


FEAR  OF  EXCITEMENT.  461 

that  IS  calculated  to  make  fanatics,  or  to  encourage  false 
hopes  ? 

S.  You  do  not  quite  understand  me.  I  have  no  fault 
to  find  on  that  score.  Perhaps  there  is  as  little  to  object 
to  in  this  revival  as  any  other.  But  then,  you  know, 
there  is  a  great  deal  of  feeling.  Religion  is  the  all- 
absorbing  topic.  One  half  the  students  can  neither  talk 
nor  think  of  any  thing  else. 

P.  You  are  quite  mistaken  on  one  point,  at  least. 
The  recitations  are,  upon  an  average,  as  good  as  they 
were  before  the  revival  began,  and  the  attention  on  col- 
lege exercises  is  better. 

S.  Still,  my  classmates  and  others  all  around  me  are 
excited,  and  I  am  getting  excited  also.  The  safest  way 
therefore,  I  think,  is  to  stand  still  and  wait  till  the  agi- 
tation subsides.  When  every  thing  becomes  quiet  again 
in  college,  and  I  feel  perfectly  calm  myself,  I  intend  de- 
liberately to  take  up  the  subject  of  religion  as  a  rational 
thing,  and  become  a  Christian. 

P.  Oh,  my  young  friend,  how  can  you  deceive  your- 
self in  this  manner !  You  would  pronounce  any  man 
insane  who  should  reason  on  secular  subjects  as  you  do 
upon  this.  You  have  felt  interested,  excited  as  you  say ; 
and  instead  of  ''fleeing  from  the  wrath  to  come,"  you 
are  going  to  "quench  the  Spirit,"  and  wait  till  you  be- 
come perfectly  uninterested,  perfectly  stupid  again ;  and 
after  that,  when  the  Holy  Spirit  is  gone,  and  you  have 
no  feeling,  and  there  is  a  dead  calm  all  around,  you 
intend  to  do — what?  Why,  to  "think  on  your  ways," 
to  repent  of  your  sins,  and  flee  to  the  ark  of  safety. 
Was  any  thing  ever  more  preposterous  ? 


452  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 


CONVEKSATION  X 


Pastor.  As  it  is  a  time  of  great  religious  interest, 
and  I  do  not  see  you  either  in  the  lecture  or  inquiry- 
room,  I  have  felt  it  my  duty  to  call  and  urge  you  to  im- 
prove the  golden  opportunity  while  it  lasts.  Soon,  I  am 
afraid,  your  unavailing  and  bitter  cry  will  be,  "The  har- 
vest is  past,  the  summer  is  ended,  and  I  am  not  saved." 

Student.  It  is  very  kind  in  you  to  visit  me.  I  wish  I 
could  become  a  Christian,  but  it  is  impossible. 

P.  What  evidence  have  you  that  it  is  impossible? 
Many  others  are  pressing  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
and  why  may  not  you  ? 

S.  Mine  is  a  very  peculiar  case.  I  have  passed 
through  several  revivals,  and  have  tried  over  and  over 
again  to  repent,  but  could  not.  1  formed  a  thousand 
good  resolutions,  but  they  all  came  to  nothing,  and  each 
failure  left  me  more  callous  than  I  was  before.  I  am 
sure  I  want  to  be  saved,  but  I  dare  not  take  up  the  sub- 
ject again.  I  dare  not  attend  the  meetings,  for  fear  my 
distress  will  return,  and  I  am  sure  it  will  do  no  good. 

P.  Who  has  told  jon  that  it  will  do  no  good  ?  Is 
God  a  hard  master?  Is  he  insincere  when  he  says,  "Let 
the  wicked  forsake  his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  man  his 
thoughts,  and  let  him  return  unto  the  Lord,  who  will 
have  mercy  upon  him?"  Is  it  God  that  hinders  you? 
Is  it  Jesus  Christ  who  died  for  you  ?  Or  is  it  your  own 
wicked  heart  ? 

S.  Whatever  the  hinderance  may  be,  I  despair  of 
ever  overcoming  it.  Having  been  baffled  so  often,  I 
have  concluded  not  to  try  any  more,  especially  as  I 
have  once  been  deceived  and  embraced  a  false  hope.  If 
I  try  again,  I  shall  at  best  be  deceived  just  as  I  was 
before.     I  know  that  by  sitting  down  and  doing  noth- 


FORMER  FALSE  HOPE.  463 

ing-,  I  shall  be  lost ;  and  so  I  shall,  do  what  I  will.  Let 
me  then  enjoy  the  present  as  well  as  I  can,  and  think  as 
little  of  the  future  as  possible. 

P.  Oh,  my  young  friend,  you  do  not  know  how  much 
you  alarm  and  distress  me.  You  talk  as  if  you  were 
absolutely  beside  yourself.  Because  you  have  repeat- 
edly tried  to  escape  from  the  greatest  of  all  dangers, 
and  have  failed,  you  will  make  no  further  efforts.  Just 
think  of  it.  Suppose  you  was  in  a  burning  house,  and 
had  tried  once,  twice,  or  even  ten  times  to  escape,  and 
had  been  as  often  driven  back  by  the  flames,  would  you 
give  over?  Would  you  not  again  and  again  rush  tow- 
ards the  door  or  window,  as  long  as  life  and  breath 
remained?  I  know  you  would,  and  so  would  every 
other  man  in  like  circumstances. 

Oh,  N ,  "madness"  is  certainly  "in  your  heart." 

I  seem  to  see  you  sitting  with  perfect  unconcern  upon 
a  sand-bank  which  a  raging  torrent  is  every  moment 
washing  from  beneath  your  feet.  Alarmed  at  the  dan- 
ger, I  call  upon  you  to  make  for  the  shore  instantly, 
and  your  cool  answer  is,  "I  have  tried  more  than  once 
already,  and  beg  you  will  not  disturb  me."  Others 
gather  anxiously  around ;  a  rope  is  thrown  within  your 
reach,  and  you  are  earnestly  entreated  to  seize  it  while 
you  may ;  but  no,  you  will  not  put  forth  a  finger.  It 
would  be  the  second  or  third  trial  to  save  yourself,  and 
you  will  not  make  it.  Nay,  I  am  doing  you  great  injus- 
tice by  these  suppositions.  You  are  not  so  indifferent 
to  the  preservation  of  your  life.  I  see  you  straining 
every  nerve  up  to  the  hundredth  trial. 

But  when  I  point  you  to  the  ark  of  safety  which  is 
floating  by,  and  urge  you  to  enter  the  open  door,  you 
coolly  reply,  that  having  made  several  attempts  and 
failed,  you  have  resolved  to  stay  where  you  are  and 
take  your  chance  with  the  world  of  the  ungodly.    When 


454  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

I  warn  you  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,  and  assure 
you  that  Christ  stands  with  open  arms  to  receive  you, 
your  answer  is,  that  having  more  than  once  tried  to  flee, 
you  dare  not  try  again,  lest  you  should  be  equally  un- 
successful. I  come  to  you  in  the  midst  of  this  glorious 
revival,  and  entreat  you  to  put  yourself  in  the  way  ot 
receiving  the  blessing ;  but  cannot  persuade  you  to  do 
any  thing,  because  when  you  have  been  awakened  in 
times  past,  you  have  quenched  the  Spirit,  and  said  unto 
God,  "  Depart  from  me ;  I  desire  not  the  knowledge  of 
thy  ways,"  Your  poor  body  you  would  do  any  thing, 
every  thing  to  saA^e,  upon  the  barest  possibility ;  but  you 
will  not  make  one  effort  more  to  save  your  deathless 
soul.  If  this  is  not  infatuation,  tell  me  by  what  other 
word  I  can  express  it. 


CONVERSATION   XI. 

Pastor.  (In  the  inquiry  room.)  Are  you  not  almost 
tired  of  attending  these  meetings?  If  I  mistake  not, 
you  were  present  the  first  evening  we  met  after  the  revi- 
val began,  and  though  three  months  or  more  have  elaps- 
ed, I  am  not  aware  that  you  have  ever  been  absent. 

Inquirer.  No,  sir ;  I  resolved  from  the  beginning  that 
I  would  attend  all  the  meetings — that  I  would  seek  till 
I  found,  if  there  was  any  such  thing. 

P.  How,  my  dear  young  friend,  have  you  sought,  and 
what  progress  have  you  made  ?  Is  there  any  change  in 
your  feelings  since  I  saw  you  last  ? 

I.  I  do  not  know  that  there  is  ;  I  am  almost  discour- 
aged ;  still  I  cannot  bear  to  give  it  up. 

P.  I  am  discouraged  too.  It  seems  to  me  your  case 
is,  I  will  not  say  hopeless,  but  it  certainly  is  exceedingly 
critical.     I  have  conversed  with  you  so  much,  and  gone 


RESOLUTIONS  FUTILE.  465 

over  the  whole  ground  so  often,  both  in  the  inquiry  room 
and  in  more  extended  interviews  elsewhere,  that  I  really 
do  not  know  what  more  to  say.  I  cannot  advise  you  to 
stay  away  from  the  meetings  ;  and  yet  my  heart  sinks 
within  me  every  time  I  see  you.  You  have  held  out  so 
long  against  God's  most  reasonable  claims,  that  I  am 
afraid  you  will  never  yield  to  them.  Going  on  as  you 
have  done,  if  your  life  were  to  be  protracted  a  hundred 
years,  and  you  were  to  attend  some  religious  meeting 
every  day  and  every  night,  you  would  be  no  nearer  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  than  you  are  now.  I  cannot  see  that 
you  have  advanced  a  single  step  for  the  last  two  months  ; 
and  I  believe  you  do  not  yourself  think  you  have ;  but 
you  hojpe  you  shall.  When  ?  The  probability  is  growing 
less  and  less  every  day. 


CONVERSATION  XII. 

Pastor.  When  I  saw  you  last,  you  expressed  a  full 
determination  not  to  linger  any  longer,  but  to  flee  to 
the  ark  of  safety  as  soon  as  possible.  Have  you  kept 
your  resolution  ? 

Inquirer.  I  do  not  know  how  to  answer  you.  I  am 
sure  I  was  sincere.  I  did  inteifid  to  repent  and  give  my 
heart  to  God,  and  fixed  the  time.  But  alas,  when  it 
came,  I  was  not  quite  ready ;  and  so  it  has  been  with 
me  over  and  over  again.  What  shall  I  do  ?  My  best 
resolutions  vanish  like  a  vapor,  and  come  to  nothing. 

P.  The  grand  adversary,  I  fear,  understands  but  too 
well  how  to  manage  you.  He  does  not  try  to  persuade 
you  to  give  up  the  subject  at  once,  and  think  no  more 
about  it,  for  that  he  knows  would  alarm  you,  and  you 
might  break  the  snare  and  escape.  He  is  too  subtle  for 
that.    He  cares  not  how  many  good  resolutions  you  form, 


456  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

if  you  do  not  keep  them.  You  may,  with  his  full  con- 
sent, ''resolve  and  reresolve,"  provided  only  you  "die 
the  same."  And  let  me  tell  you,  that  in  the  very  nature 
of  the  case,  you  never  will,  you  never  can  repent,  so  long 
as  you  are  resolving  to  do  it  at  some  future  time.  If 
you  resolve  ever  so  sincerely  to  repent  to-morrow,  it  set- 
tles the  point  that  you  will  not  repent  to-night.  You  will 
certainly  put  it  off;  and  when  to-morrow  comes,  you 
will  almost  as  certainly  defer  it  to  a  more  "convenient 
season."  It  is  the  remark  of  an  old  divine,  that  "hell  is 
paved  with  good  resolutions."  The  prodigal  son  could 
not  remain  starving  upon  husks  another  day  or  hour, 
after  he  came  to  himself.  No  sooner  was  his  resolution 
taken,  than  it  was  executed,  "I  will  arise  and  go  to 
my  father,"  not  to-morrow,  but  immediately ;  and  he 
went,  and  was  received  as  a  penitent  child.  You  must 
do  as  he  did ;  not  resolve  that  you  will  return  by  and  by, 
but  return  at  once.  Every  moment's  delay  is  a  moment 
of  danger  and  sin. 


CONVERSATION  XIII. 

Pastor.  I  hope,  my  young  friend,  you  are  no  longer 
"halting  between  two  opinions,"  as  I  found  you  last 
week.  Soon  will  the  "harvest  be  past,  and  the  summer 
ended."  If  you  continue  to  hesitate  and  linger,  and 
finally  "return  again  to  folly,"  the  revival  will  leave 
you  more  callous  than  it  found  you ;  and  should  you 
perish  after  what  you  have  witnessed  and  felt,  your 
condemnation  will  be  more  aggravated  than  it  would 
have  been  had  you  never  enjoyed  these  high  privileges. 

Inquirer.  I  am  aware  of  it,  and  would  that  I  had 
never  enjoyed  them. 

P.  You  make  me  shudder.     Have  you  then  no  thanks 


FEAR  OF  AGGRAVATED  DOOM.     451 

to  render  that  the  "kingdom  of  God  is  thus  brought  nigh 
unto  you  ?"  Does  infinite  tenderness  and  mercy  deserve 
such  a  return  from  one  who  is  ready  to  perish  ? 

I.  How  can  I  be  thankful  for  that  which  does  me  no 
good,  but  may  sink  me  in  darker  despair  for  ever  ? 

P.  Whose  fault  is  it,  if,  when  the  bread  of  life  is  free- 
ly offered,  you  will  not  take  it — if,  when  the  waters  of 
salvation  flow  at  your  feet,  you  will  not  stoop  down  and 
drink — if,  when  the  blessed  Saviour  comes  to  the  door 
and  knocks,  you  will  not  let  him  in?  It  certainly  will 
aggravate  your  final  condemnation,  that  you  have  been 
thus  exalted  to  heaven,  if  you  remain  impenitent.  "  Unto 
whomsoever  much  is  given,  of  him  shall  much  be  re- 
quired." 

You  wish  you  had  never  enjoyed  such  religious  priv- 
ileges. The  wish  comes  too  late.  You  have  enjoyed 
them,  and  can  never  place  yourself  back  where  you  was 
before.  You  can  hereafter,  if  you  choose,  throw  away 
your  Bible,  and  forsake  the  house  of  G-od ;  or  if  you  do 
not,  you  can  stop  your  ears  and  harden  your  heart  un- 
der the  means  of  grace ;  or  you  can  flee  away  to  some 
remote  region  of  darkness,  where  there  is  no  Sabbath 
and  no  preaching.  You  can  go  and  live  among  the  hea- 
then, and  die  with  them.  But  still  it  will  remain  true 
that  you  was  born  of  Christian  parents,  that  you  receiv- 
ed a  religious  education,  and  that  you  passed  through 
this  great  revival.  It  is  all  recorded  in  "  the  book  of 
remembrance ;"  and  your  regrets  can  no  more  alter  the 
record,  than  they  can  blot  out  your  existence.  There  is 
no  way  for  you  ever  to  be  placed  on  the  same  level  with 
those  who  never  enjoyed  the  gospel,  and  never  witness- 
ed a  revival.  If  you  do  not  repent  of  sin  and  believe  in 
Christ,  it  will  be  more  tolerable  for  them  in  the  day  of 
judgment,  than  for  you. 

Rev.  Sketches.  20 


458  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 


CONVERSATION   XIV. 

Pastor.    I  have  just  been  conversing  with  some  of 

your  family,  Mr.  A ,  who  feel  a  lively  interest  in  the 

present  revival ;  and  if  you  have  a  few  moments  to 
spare,  I  should  esteem  it  a  favor  to  talk  a  little  with 
you.  I  have  always  regarded  you  as  among  the  best 
friends  I  have  in  the  congregation,  and  you  are  one  of 
my  constant  hearers  on  the  Sabbath ;  but  I  am  not 
aware  that  you  have  felt  any  particular  interest  in  the 
work  of  the  Lord  which  he  is  now  carrying  on,  not  only 
in  this  place,  but  in  all  the  towns  around  us.  Many  of 
your  neighbors  are  pressing  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
"  Now  is  the  accepted  time,  now  is  the  day  of  salvation," 
and  I  am  anxious  to  see  you  also  "  striving  to  enter  in 
at  the  strait  gate." 

Parishioner.  I  am  afraid  that  many  of  them  are  too 
fast.  They  get  their  hopes  too  quick  and  too  easy. 
They  act  as  if  they  could  do  all  the  work  themselves, 
and  repent  just  when  they  pleased.  The  good  old  doc- 
trine of  dependance  and  divine  efficiency  under  which  I 
was  brought  up,  seems  to  be  going  out  of  fashion.  Sin- 
ners nowadays  change  their  own  hearts,  or  at  least 
think  they  do.  It  was  not  so  when  I  was  young.  They 
were  under  concern  for  weeks  or  months,  waiting  for 
God  to  renew  them.  I  am  for  giving  all  the  glory  to 
God.  He  is  an  absolute  Sovereign.  His  time  is  the 
best  time,  and  I  know  of  no  other  way  but  to  wait  and 
hope  for  his  salvation. 

P.  While  it  is  impossible  to  ascribe  too  much  glory 
to  God  for  his  immediate  and  omnipotent  agency  in  the 
conversion  of  sinners,  we  must  beware  how  we  presume 
upon  his  mercy  while  we  fold  our  arms  in  indifference. 
Who  ever  entered  in  at  the  strait  gate  without  striving  ? 


SUDDEN  HOPES.  459 

While  others  are  asking  what  they  must  do  to  be  saved, 
and  a  "  new  song  is  put  into  their  mouths,"  you  congrat- 
ulate yourself  upon  being  more  deliberate.  You  are 
afraid  they  are  too  fast,  and  so  you  sit  perfectly  still. 
You  are  afraid  they  are  getting  false  hopes,  and  so  rest 
contented  without  any  hope  at  all.  When  called  upon 
to  give  yourself  to  Christ,  you  take  shelter  under  sove- 
reignty and  efficiency,  and  persuade  yourself  that  you 
are  honoring  God  by  waiting  for  him  to  come  and  do 
what  he  has  commanded  you  to  do. 

Par.  How  can  I  do  any  thing  till  God  gives  me 
strength?  Have  I  not  heard  you  say  a  hundred  times 
in  the  pulpit,  that  regeneration  is  the  work  of  God,  and 
that  he  alone  changes  the  heart  ? 

P.  I  dare  say  you  have ;  but  is  this  all  that  I  have 
said?  Have  I  not  always  urged  upon  sinners  the  duty 
of  immediate  repentance  and  faith,  and  insisted  that 
there  is  no  obstacle  in  the  way  but  a  wicked  and  impeni- 
tent heart,  which  is  so  far  from  constituting  a  reasona- 
ble excuse,  that  it  is  the  very  thing  for  which  the  sinner 
will  be  condemned? 

There  is  not,  my  friend,  I  will  venture  to  say,  one 
solitary  text  from  Genesis  to  Revelation,  which  justifies 
you  in  resting  in  impenitence  for  God  to  awaken  and 
give  you  a  new  heart.  Your  great  error  lies  in  suppos- 
ing that  you  honor  God  by  laying  so  much  stress  upon 
the  riches  of  his  grace,  as  to  excuse  you  in  your  present 
indifference  and  unbelief  You  are  afraid  to  "  flee  from 
the  wrath  to  come,  and  lay  hold  on  eternal  life ;"  you 
are  afraid  to  do  any  thing,  lest  you  should  dishonor  God 
by  taking  the  work  into  your  own  hands.  How  strange  I 
You  are  living  in  habitual  disobedience  to  every  com- 
mand of  God  addressed  to  the  impenitent,  and  you  act 
upon  calculation  and  principle,  so  that  if  you  are  ever 
converted,  the  whole  universe  may  acknowledge  it  to  be 


460  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

by  the  mighty  power  of  God.    How  preposterous  I  What 
amazing  presumption ! 

I  tremble  for  you,  my  respected  friend,  as  I  never  did 
before.  Here  you  are  in  the  midst  of  a  great  revival, 
blessing  yourself  that  you  are  not  carried  away  by  im- 
pulses, that  you  are  a  firm  believer  in  divine  sovereignty 
and  irresistible  grace,  and  all  the  hard  doctrines  which 
many  who  call  themselves  Christians  reject.  And  this, 
my  dear  sir,  is  your  religion.  You  have  no  other,  and 
you  do  not  yourself  think  it  will  save  you.  You  hope 
that  God  in  his  own  good  time  will  convert  you.  Oh, 
how  deceitful  above  all  things  is  the  human  heart !  You 
have  been  waiting  now  thirty  or  forty  years  for  God  to 
come  and  save  you,  and  have  no  doubt  for  the  most  part 
kept  your  conscience  quiet  by  persuading  yourself  that 
you  was  honoring  him  by  entertaining  such  high  thoughts 
of  his  sole  prerogative  in  the  work  of  regeneration.  How 
much  longer  will  it  do  for  you  to  wait  ?  Like  myself  you 
are  growing  old.  Grey  hairs  are  here  and  there  upon 
you.  Death  cannot  be  very  far  off — it  may  be  very 
near.  And  if  God  should  not  awaken  and  regenerate 
you,  wrapt  up  as  you  are  in  false  security,  will  you  con- 
sole yourself  at  the  close  of  life  with  the  reflection,  that 
you  have  waited  patiently  for  him  all  your  days,  and 
that  it  is  not  your  fault  if  you  die  impenitent  ? 


CONVERSATION   XV. 

Pastor.  You  must  have  noticed,  Mr.  N ,  that  there 

is  a  great  change  of  late  in  the  aspect  of  our  congrega- 
tion on  the  Sabbath,  and  that  religion  is  the  leading 
topic  of  conversation  among  the  people  in  their  daily 
intercourse.     May  I  ask  what  you  think  of  it  ? 

Parishioner.  I  hardly  know  what  to  think.     I  hope 


PROFESSORS  INCONSISTENT.  461 

some  good  will  come  of  it,  if  it  lasts ;  but  there  is  one 
great  obstacle  iu  the  way  of  my  being  benefited  by  it. 

P.  I  am  very  sorry  for  that.  Will  you  have  the  good- 
ness to  explain  yourself? 

Par.  Why,  to  be  perfectly  frank,  then,  I  see  so  much 
inconsistency  in  the  members  of  your  church,  that  it 
stumbles  me  exceedingly,  and  I  know  of  others  who  feel 
just  as  I  do.  If  I  were  a  professor,  I  think  I  should  try 
to  live  up  to  it. 

P.  Then  you  believe  there  is  such  a  thing  as  true 
religion  ? 

Par.  Certainly  I  do,  and  that  all  who  profess  it  ought 
to  adorn  their  profession. 

P.  Do  you  look  upon  yourself  as  a  Christian?  We 
have  long  been  looking  for  your  assistance  on  the  side 
of  religion. 

Par.  I  do  not  think  I  have  ever  experienced  that 
great  change  of  which  you  speak  so  often  in  your  dis- 
courses. 

P.  Do  you  believe  you  can  go  to  heaven  without  it  ? 

Par.  I  fear  not ;  and  if  professors  knew  what  stum- 
bling-blocks they  are  in  the  way  of  sinners,  I  am  sure 
they  would  not  give  the  world  so  much  occasion  as  they 
often  do  to  suspect  their  sincerity. 

P.  I  cannot  stop  to  debate  the  question  whether 
they  are  sincere  or  not.  But,  my  dear  sir,  suppose  the 
worst  you  can  possibly  imagine — suppose  half  the  mem- 
bers of  our  church  were  rank  hypocrites ;  would  that 
3xcuse  you  from  the  duty  of  immediate  repentance  ?  Do 
aot,  I  beseech  you,  live  any  longer  upon  the  real  or  sup- 
posed faults  of  professors  of  religion.  It  is  poor  fare  for 
a  soul  that  is  famishing,  and  ready  to  perish.  We  read 
of  those  in  the  Bible  who  "  eat  up  the  sins  of  God's  peo- 
ple as  they  eat  bread ;"  but  we  never  read  of  their  being 
nourished  by  it. 


462  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

God,  my  dear  sir,  has  not  set  you  to  watch  his  church 
to  see  how  many  "  motes,"  or  even  "  beams,"  you  can  find 
in  it.  But  he  has  given  you  a  deathless  spirit  to  care 
for  ;  and  if  you  do  not  "  give  all  diligence,"  it  will  be  lost. 
Many  who  are  in  the  church  may  perish  ;  I  fear  they 
will,  but  that  is  not  the  question  for  you  to  settle.  Were 
the  whole  world  to  perish  with  you,  that  would  not  as- 
suage the  pangs  of  the  second  death.  Let  who  will  go 
down  to  the  pit,  be  entreated  to  flee  from  it,  and  lay  hold 
of  everlasting  life. 


CONVERSATION   XVI. 

Pastor.  Good  morning,  my  young  friend ;  how  do 
you  do  ? 

Inquirer.  Oh,  I  am  in  very  deep  trouble,  and  have 
come  to  you  again  as  the  last  resort.  I  have  read  the 
Bible  a  great  deal  for  the  last  ten  days,  but  it  gives  me 
no  light  nor  relief.  I  have  attended  all  the  meetings, 
but  it  does  me  no  good.  I  have  prayed  and  prayed,  and 
prayed  again,  but  God  will  not  hear  me.  I  have  tried 
to  repent  and  cannot.  I  have  fully  resolved  to  give  my 
heart  to  God,  but  it  will  not  yield  to  him.  I  would  give 
the  world  if  I  could  come  to  Christ  and  be  washed  in 
his  atoning  blood,  but  my  efforts  are  all  in  vain.  I  can- 
not move  a  step  further. 

P.  And  so  you  have  come  to  me,  who  am  but  a  poor 
feeble,  sinful  worm,  as  the  last  resort.  But  what  can  I  do  ? 
I  cannot  take  you  out  of  God's  hands  if  I  would,  and  I 
would  not  if  I  could.  His  claims  are  perfectly  just  and 
reasonable.  His  law,  which  you  have  broken,  and  which 
condemns  you,  is  a  good  law.  He  requires  nothing  of  yon 
but  what  would  be  perfectly  easy,  if  your  stubborn  heart 
did  not  stand  in  the  way.  This  is  a  great  obstacle  I  ad- 
mit ;  but  it  is  voluntary,  it  is  criminal.     It  is  just  like 


CLINGING  TO  A  FALSE  HOPE.  463 

the  obstacle  which  hinders  a  disobedient  child  from  sub- 
mitting to  the  authority  of  his  father.  He  is  so  stubborn 
that  he  will  not.  And  what  would  you  think  were  he  to 
say,  "  I  wish  I  could  submit,  but  I  cannot  bend  my  ob- 
stinate will  ?"  Cannot  I  you  would  reply  ;  what  sort  of 
cannot  is  this  ? 

You  have  come  to  rne  as  the  last  resort!  Then  you  are  a 
lost  man,  for  I  cannot  help  you.  Oh  that  I  could  per- 
suade you  to  go  to  Him  who  is  mighty  to  save,  and  who 
is  as  ready  as  he  is  able  "to  save  to  the  uttermost" 
all  who  come  to  him.  If  you  want  instruction,  I  am 
most  happy  to  give  it  to  the  full  extent  of  my  ability ; 
but  what  can  I  say  more  than  I  have  said,  both  in  ser- 
mons and  conversation?  The  case  lies  in  a  very  narrow 
compass-  You  are  a  sinner.  The  law  condemns  you. 
You  cannot  deliver  yourself  from  its  awful  curse.  But 
Jesus  Christ  can  deliver  you.  He  came  down  from  heav- 
en "  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost."  In  dying 
on  the  cross,  "  he  gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all."  He  in- 
vites you  to  come  just  as  you  are,  and  receive  the  rich 
and  free  salvation  of  the  gospel.  He  bids  you  come  and 
^'  buy  wine  and  milk  without  money  and  without  price." 
You  are  a  prodigal  son,  and  he  invites  you  back  with  all 
the  tenderness  of  a  father.  Will  you  return — will  you 
come  and  wash  in  the  fountain  which  infinite  love  has 
opened  for  sin  and  for  uncleanness — will  you  accept  of 
salvation  at  the  hand  of  a  bleeding,  dying,  risen,  and 
glorified  Saviour?  Will  you;  will  yowl  I  can  say  no 
more,  I  can  make  the  terms  no  easier,  I  cannot  help  you. 
[Inquirer  withdraws  in  silence  and  great  depression^ 


CONVERSATION   XVII. 

Pastor.  At  our  last  interview  you  spoke  of  a  decided 
change  in  your  feelings,  though  you  could  not  then  de- 


464  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

termine  what  it  was.  You  was  beginning  to  indulge 
what  you  called  a  trembling  hope.  Do  you  still  retain 
it ;  and  if  so,  does  it  grow  stronger  or  weaker  ? 

Inquirer.  I  cannot  say  that  my  evidences  are  much,  if 
any,  clearer  than  they  were  at  that  time.  They  certainly 
are  not  so  clear  as  I  wish  they  were  ;  but  still,  I  would 
not  give  up  what  little  hope  I  have  for  the  world, 

P.  I  do  not  know  that  I  imderstand  you.  I  suppose, 
when  you  speak  of  your  hope  as  weak  and  trembling, 
your  meaning  is,  that  you  are  afraid  it  is  not  well-ground- 
ed— that  although  your  feelings  are  changed,  and  at 
times  you  have  some  evidence  of  having  "  passed  from 
death  unto  life,"  still  you  have  many  doubts  and  fears. 
Is  this  your  meaning  ? 

I.  It  is ;  I  feel  a  great  part  of  the  time  as  if  I  had 
very  little  if  any  reason  to  hope. 

P.  And  yet  you  would  not  give  up  what  little  hope  you 
have  for  the  world?  Surely,  if  it  is  o,  false  hope,  you  ought 
not  to  keep  it  for  the  world.  The  sooner  such  a  hope  is 
renounced  the  better.  It  is  infinitely  dangerous  to  cling 
to  it. 

I.  But  what  shall  I  do  ?  I  cannot  think^of  going  back 
again  into  the  wilderness,  and  commencing  anew.  I 
should  be  the  most  wretched  being  in  the  world  if  I 
were  entirely  to  give  up  my  present  hope. 

P.  I  do  not  undertake  to  decide  whether  your  hope 
is  good  or  bad,  sound  or  unsound.  I  only  say  that  noth- 
ing is  so  dangerous  as  a  false  hope,  and  that  you  ought 
not  to  rest  satisfied  in  your  present  state  of  doubt  and 
uncertainty  for  a  single  hour.  However  painful  it  may 
be  to  find  by  careful  self-examination  that  you  have  been 
deceived,  it  is  infinitely  worse  to  settle  down  upon  a 
sandy  foundation. 

If  a  sinner  who  has  embraced  a  false  hope  could 
never  by  throwing  it  away  obtain  a  good  one,  his  case 


TRUE  TESTS.  465 

would  be  deplorable  indeed.  But  blessed  be  God,  this 
is  not  the  alternative.  He  may  still  flee  to  the  strong- 
hold. He  may  build  again,  and  build  upon  the  right 
foundation.  He  may  repent,  he  may  believe  on  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  he  may  embrace  the  offers  of  mercy, 
and  be  saved.  Many  have  given  up  their  old  hopes  as 
unsound  and  baseless,  and  have  exchanged  them  for 
that  good  hope,  "which  is  as  an  anchor  to  the  soul  both 
sure  and  steadfast." 

Do  not,  I  pray  you,  my  friend,  cling  as  it  were  with 
a  death  grasp  to  a  hope  which,  according  to  your  own 
acknowledgment,  is  very  unsatisfactory.  No  man  would 
sit  down  quietly,  if  his  estate  was  in  like  jeopardy. 
Search  the  Scriptures.  Examine  your  title.  Look  well 
to  your  foundation.  Dig  deep.  Be  thorough  and  hon- 
est in  the  whole  process,  and  if  you  find  your  hope 
brightened,  strengthened,  and  confirmed,  bless  God  for 
it.  But  if  it  will  not  bear  the  test,  renounce  it,  and 
never  rest  till  you  obtain  one  that  will.  Many,  I  fear, 
have  perished  in  their  sins,  because  they  would  not  for 
the.  world  §ive  up  what  little  hope  they  had. 


CONVERSATION   XVIII. 

Pastor.  Do  you  think,  my  young  friend,  that  you 
have  given  your  heart  to  God  ? 

Inquirer.  I  hardly  know  what  to  think,  and  have 
come  to  you  for  instruction  and  advice.  I  dread,  more 
than  death  itself,  the  thought  of  settling  down  upon  a 
false  hope. 

P.  Then  you  have  some  hope ;  and  it  is  indeed  infi- 
nitely important  that  it  should  be  "  a  good  hope."     How 
did  you  obtain  it  ?    Will  you  give  me  a  short  account  of 
your  religious  feelings  and  exercises  ? 
20* 


466  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

I.  For  some  time  after  the  revival  commenced,  I  was 
more  careless  and  hardened  than  ever.  I  felt  a  strong 
aversion  to  religion,  and  did  not  wish  to  hear  any  thing 
on  the  subject.  Strange  as  it  may  seem  to  you,  I  was 
unwilling  that  others  should  attend  to  it ;  and  my  heart 
rose  against  God  for  passing  me  by  and  awakening 
them,  at  the  same  time  that  I  was  prepared  to  resist 
every  influence  upon  my  own  heart.  At  length  my 
attention  was  arrested  ;  I  do  not  know  how.  I  became 
anxious  ;  and  soon  began,  in  spite  of  the  pride  and  stout- 
ness of  my  heart,  to  feel  that  I  was  a  sinner, 

I  tried  to  shake  it  off,  but  in  vain.  The  law  of  God 
thundered  not  only  in  my  ear,  but  in  my  conscience. 
Every  sermon  that  I  heard  made  me  feel  worse.  I  saw 
that  it  was  my  duty  to  repent,  to  love  God,  and  to  con- 
secrate myself  to  his  service.  But  instead  of  yielding, 
my  heart  grew  more  and  more  obstinate.  Nothing  could 
move  it;  neither  love  nor  fear — neither  the  law  nor  the 
gospel.  I  saw  that  I  was  justly  condemned,  and  that 
Christ  was  the  only  deliverer.  In  this  extremity,  I  tried 
to  make  terms  with  God.  I  would  repent  and  yield  to 
him,  if  he  would  save  me.  I  was  ready  to  buy  salvation 
at  any  price  ;  but  not  to  accept  of  it  as  a  free,  unmerited 
gift. 

Thus  did  I  struggle  like  a  wild  bull  in  a  net,  till  I 
had  no  more  strength  left.  I  was  in  the  hands  of  a  holy 
God,  who  would  not  relax  his  claims  ;  and  I  saw  at  last, 
that  it  would  be  just  if  he  were  to  cast  me  off  for  ever. 
This  brought  me  to  the  brink  of  despair.  I  knew  not 
which  way  to  turn.  I  could  not  remain  where  I  was — I 
dared  not  go  back,  and  I  could  not  go  forward.  Here 
the  thought  came  into  my  mind,  "I  will  cast  myself 
upon  the  mercy  of  God  ;  and  if  I  perish,  I  perish." 

I  know  not  how  or  why  it  was ;  but  from  that  hour 
I  felt  calm.     I  might  be  lost ;  it  seemed  probable  that  I 


TRUE  TESTS.  461 

should  be.  But  God  was  right ;  his  character  was  glo- 
rious ;  all  nature  was  praising  him ;  the  plan  of  salva- 
tion was  wonderful — was  full  of  love  and  mercy :  why- 
had  I  not  seen  and  embraced  it  before?  Christ  was 
precious.  My  hard  heart  seemed  to  be  melted,  and  my 
lips  were  opened  in  praise.  About  this  time  a  gleam  of 
hope  dawned  upon  my  souL  Could  it  be  all  a  dream,  or 
a  delusion  ?  It  did  seem  to  me  that  if  I  loved  any  thing, 
I  loved  God,  and  loved  the  Saviour,  and  loved  Chris- 
tians, and  loved  to  pray. 

P.  You  represent  your  heart  as  having  been  very 
hard  and  obstinate  at  the  beginning  of  the  revival.  Do 
you  think  it  was  totally  depraved  ? 

I.  I  am  sure  it  was,  if  there  is  any  such  thing  as 
total  depravity. 

P.  What,  had  you  no  love  to  God  at  all  ? 

I.  None  ;  not  in  the  least.  My  heart  was  full  of  en- 
mity to  Him  and  his  cause. 

P.  How  then  came  you  to  take  up  the  subject  ? 

I.  It  was  the  Spirit  of  God  that  awakened  me.  I  am 
sure  nothing  else  could  have  arrested  my  attention. 

P.  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  there  was  a  special,  di- 
vine influence  upon  your  mind,  different  from  what  you 
had  ever  experienced  before  ? 

I.  I  have  no  doubt  of  it.  There  must  have  been  ;  for 
I  have  heard  the  same  kind  of  preaching  for  years  with- 
out being  moved  at  all.  Though  the  last  revival  was 
more  general  and  powerful  than  this  has  been,  and 
though  I  saw  and  heard  more  than  I  have  now  to  excite 
me,  I  remained  through  the  whole  of  it  almost  as  stupid 
as  the  beasts  that  perish. 

P.  I  infer,  from  your  saying  your  heart  was  totally 
depraved,  that  you  believe  in  the  necessity  of  regenera- 
tion. 

I.  I  do. 


468  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

P.  And  you  hope  your  own  heart  has  been  renewed  ? 

I.  I  have  a  gleam  of  hope,  as  I  remarked  in  the  be- 
ginning of  our  conversation ;  but  my  heart  is  so  deceit- 
ful that  I  am  afraid  to  trust  it. 

P.  Then  you  obeyed  the  command  of  God  and  made 
yourself  a  new  heart,  did  you  not  ? 

I.  No  sir ;  I  never  obeyed  any  of  his  commands,  till 
he  made  me  willing  in  the  day  of  his  power.  If  I  have 
a  new  heart,  he  gave  it  to  me.  It  seems  to  me  that  pas- 
sage in  the  thirty -first  chapter  of  Jeremiah,  which  I  was 
reading  this  morning,  suits  my  case  exactly :  "  Surely, 
after  that  I  was  turned  I  repented,  and  after  I  was  in- 
structed I  smote  upon  my  thigh."  If  I  have  any  reason 
to  hope,  I  ascribe  it  entirely  to  the  free  grace  of  God, 
from  beginning  to  end.  I  was  going  down  the  broad 
way  as  fast  as  I  could,  when  he  arrested  me ;  and  if  I 
am  saved,  all  the  glory  belongs  to  him. 

P.  These  are  views  which  it  is  safe  for  you  to  cher- 
ish. But  you  have  a  great  deal  yet  to  learn.  Search 
the  Scriptures.  Be  much  in  prayer  to  God  for  the  illu- 
mination of  his  Spirit.  If  he  has  given  you  a  new  heart, 
and  you  consecrate  it  to  his  service,  He  will  give  you 
more  light,  and  clearer  evidence  of  your  adoption. 


CONVERSATION  XIX. 

Pastor.  I  am   glad  to  meet  you  this  morning,  Mr. 
— .     We  are  going  to  have  a  meeting  in  your  neigh- 


borhood this  evening,  and  I  hope  you  will  attend  it. 

Caviller.  What  good  will  it  do  me,  if  I  should  ? 

P.  That  will  depend  in  a  great  measure  upon  your- 
self. If  you  go  with  a  sincere  desire  to  hear  the  truth, 
and  treasure  it  up  in  a  good  and  honest  heart,  it  will  do 
you  good. 

C.  I  like  your  preaching  pretty  well  when  I  happen 


DIFFICULTIES.  469 

to  hear  it,  which,  you  know,  is  not  very  often,  and  per- 
haps, if  not  otherwise  engaged,  I  may  comply  with  your 
invitation ;  but  there  are  some  of  your  doctrines  which 
I  do  not  believe. 

P.  I  am  very  sorry  for  that,  if  they  are  true,  as  I 
think  they  are  or  I  should  not  preach  them.  But  will 
you  be  so  kind  as  to  specify  some  of  them. 

G.  Why,  depravity,  for  instance.  I  don't  believe 
that  all  mankind  are  totally  depraved. 

P.  You  do  n't  ?  I  thought  you  did.  I  am  quite  sure 
I  have  heard  you  say  very  lately,  and  with  a  good  deal 
of  emphasis  too,  that  all  the  world  is  a  cheat ;  that  you 
can  trust  nobody,  and  that  the  longer  you  live  the  worse 
opinion  you  have  of  human  nature.  This  is  carrying 
the  matter  further  than  I  do.  I  do  not  think  all  men 
would  overreach  and  defraud  you,  if  they  had  the  oppor- 
tunity. On  the  contrary,  I  believe  there  is  a  great  deal 
of  honesty  in  the  world,  though  I  at  the  same  time  be- 
lieve that  all  men  are  by  nature  entirely  destitute  of 
holiness,  and  that,  in  the  language  of  Scripture,  "the 
carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God ;  for  it  is  not  subject 
to  his  law,  neither  indeed  can  be."  You  believe  that 
we  are  all  sinners,  that  we  ought  to  repent  of  sin,  and 
that  we  need  pardon  through  Christ ;  do  you  not  ? 

0.  Undoubtedly. 

P.  Will  you  allow  me  then  tenderly  to  ask.  Have  you 
repented ;  have  you  obtained  the  pardon  of  your  sins,  so 
that  if  you  were  to  die  the  next  hour,  it  would  be  well 
with  you  ?  Whether  you  are  totally  depraved  or  not, 
you  are  certainly  so  much  depraved  that  you  cannot  be 
saved  without  repentance  and  forgiveness.  A  millstone 
of  a  hundred  pounds  will  as  certainly  sink  a  man  in  the 
depths  of  the  sea  as  one  of  a  thousand. 

C.  Well,  but  you  hold  to  the  necessity  of  regeneration, 
as  well  as  to  repentance.    You  say  that  our  hearts  must 


410  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

be  changed  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  or  we  cannot  be  saved. 
Now,  I  do  not  believe  that  any  such  divine  agency  is 
necessary.  We  are  not  machines  to  be  acted  upon.  We 
are  free  moral  agents.  Any  man  can  repent  and  turn  to 
God  when  he  pleases,  and  this,  I  hold,  is  all  the  change 
of  heart  that  is  necessary.  My  Bible  reads,  "Awake, 
thou  that  sleepest,  and  rise  from  the  dead."  And  again, 
if  I  am  not  mistaken,  "Make  you  a  new  heart  and  a  new 
spirit ;  for  why  will  ye  die  ?" 

P.  My  Bible  reads  just  so  too.  And  by  the  way,  you 
do  believe  in  total  depravity  as  I  hold  it,  after  all.  For 
how  can  a  sinner  rise  from  the  dead,  if  he  is  not  dead, 
but  only  sick,  very  sick  if  you  please  ?  Or  what  need 
can  there  be  of  his  making  himself  a  new  heart,  if  his 
old  heart  is  not  entirely  bad?  But  let  this  pass.  If 
you  will  betake  yourself  to  the  task  in  earnest,  if  you 
will  awake  and  rise  from  the  dead  by  your  own  power, 
if  you  will  at  once  make  yourself  a  new  heart,  as  you 
are  certainly  bound  to  do,  I  certainly  shall  not  object. 
What  I  earnestly  desire  is,  to  see  you  a  sincere  and 
devoted  Christian.  Give  your  heart  to  God  without 
waiting  a  moment  for  him  to  make  you  willing.  This 
is  what  you  ought  to  do.  "Repent  and  be  converted, 
that  your  sins  may  be  blotted  out."  This  is  your  imme- 
diate duty. 


CONVERSATION   XX. 

Inquirer.  Availing  myself  of  your  kind  invitation  so 
often  given  from  the  pulpit,  I  have  called  this  evening 
to  ask  a  few  questions,  and  get  your  views  in  regard  to 
several  points  on  which  I  need  instruction. 

Pastor.  1  am  very  happy  to  see  you.  Will  you  pro- 
pose your  questions  ? 

I.  You  have  often  spoken  during  the  revival  of  the 


SELF-EXAMINATION.  471 

distress  of  awakened  sinners  under  genuine  conviction, 
in  view  of  their  guilt  and  danger.  I  have  for  some  time 
been  indulging  a  trembling  hope  that  I  have  passed 
from  death  unto  life ;  but  I  must  relinquish  it  if  none 
can  be  converted  without  such  distressing  antecedent 
convictions,  for  I  have  never  experienced  them.  Do 
you  think  that  all  who  are  brought  to  Christ  must  pass 
through  these  deep  waters  ? 

P.  I  do  not.  On  this  point  my  own  observation  coin- 
cides with  what  I  understand  to  be  the  true  scriptural 
view  of  the  subject.  "  There  are  diversities  of  opera- 
tions, but  the  same  Spirit  who  worketh  all  in  all."  A 
great  many  are  overwhelmed  with  a  sense  of  their  guilt 
and  danger.  Their  sins  stare  them  in  the  face.  The 
law,  which  "worketh  death,"  thunders  so  loudly  in  their 
ears  that  they  can  hear  nothing  else.  This  appears  to 
have  been  the  case  with  the  three  thousand  on  the  day 
of  Pentecost.  They  were  "pricked  in  their  hearts,"  and 
cried  out,  "Men  and  brethren,  what  shall  we  do  ?"  This 
was  the  case  with  Saul  of  Tarsus.  Being  arrested  by 
the  Lord  Jesus  on  his  journey  to  Damascus,  he  continued 
three  days  in  such  extreme  mental  anguish  that  he  nei- 
ther ate  nor  drank.  Before  this,  he  "was  alive  without 
the  law ;  but  when  the  commandment  came,  sin  revived, 
and  he  died."  So  the  astonished  and  convicted  jailor  at 
Philippi  "  sprang  in,  and  came  trembling,  and  fell  down 
before  Paul  and  Silas,  and  said.  Sirs,  what  must  I  do  to 
be  saved?"  I  know  it  is  often  said  that  these  were 
extraordinary  cases  ;  but  I  have  myself  witnessed  many 
very  much  like  them,  as  every  pastor  must  have  done 
who  has  been  much  conversant  with  powerful  religious 
revivals. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Spirit  sometimes  moves  so 
gently  and  sweetly  on  the  sinner's  heart,  that  he  passes 
through  the  new  birth  with  scarcely  any  consciousness 


412  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

of  its  pangs.  Zaccheus  the  publican  seems  to  have 
been  of  this  number.  Attracted  by  curiosity  to  see  the 
Saviour,  he  runs  before  the  crowd  and  climbs  a  syca- 
more-tree, that  he  may  get  a  better  view  of  him  than  he 
could  from  the  ground,  being  "little  of  stature."  "And 
when  Jesus  came  to  the  place,  he  looked  up  and  said, 
Zaccheus,  make  haste  and  come  down ;  for  to-day  I  must 
abide  at  thy  house.  And  he  made  haste  and  came  down, 
and  received  him  joyfully."  A  few  analogous  cases  have 
fallen  under  my  own  observation.  Individuals  becoming 
interested  in  the  revival,  have  almost  immediately  come 
out  "rejoicing  in  hope;"  and  some  of  them  have  worn 
well — ^they  have  lived  like  Christians,  and  died  in  peace. 
I  have  noticed,  however,  that  where  "the  work  of  the 
law"  does  not  precede  conversion,  it  is  very  apt  to  fol- 
low it.  He  who  does  not  see  much  of  the  plague  of  his 
own  heart  before  he  passes  from  death  unto  life,  will  ere 
long  find  himself  constrained  to  cry  out  with  the  apos- 
tle, "  0  wretched  man  that  I  am !  who  shall  deliver  me 
from  the  body  of  this  death  ?" 

My  own  view  of  the  matter  is  this.  Where  the  doc- 
trines of  the  gospel  are  distinguishingly  and  faithfully 
preached,  sinners  are  generally  slain  by  the  law,  before 
they  find  joy  and  peace  in  believing.  But  I  do  not  feel 
authorized  to  say  that  this  is  always  the  case.  "The 
wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and  thou  canst  not  tell 
whence  it  cometh,  nor  whither  it  goeth ;  so  is  every  one 
that  is  born  of  the  Spirit."  But  whether  the  degree  of 
conviction  and  distress  be  great  or  comparatively  small 
before  conversion,  the  sinner  must  see  and  feel  enough 
of  his  guilt  to  repent,  and  of  his  need  of  a  Saviour  to 
embrace  him. 

Your  main  difficulty,  if  I  understand  it,  is  that  you 
have  experienced  so  little  distress  in  view  of  your  sin- 
fulness and  danger. 


SELF-EXAMINATION.  4t3 

I.  It  is.  When  I  converse  with  others,  and  hear 
them  tell  into  what  straits  they  were  brought  before 
they  found  peace ;  how  their  hearts  rose  against  God, 
and  how  they  trembled  in  view  of  his  power  and  justice, 
I  am  afraid  my  hope  is  not  well  founded,  for  I  am  sure 
I  have  not  had  such  experience. 

P.  The  question  is  not  how  much  or  how  little  dis- 
tress you  may  have  experienced.  Many  a  sinner  has 
been  awakened,  without  being  converted.  Conviction, 
however  clear  or  long  continued,  is  not  regeneration. 
Some  "quench  the  Spirit,"  and  "draw  back  unto  perdi- 
tion," after  painful  and  protracted  struggles ;  while 
others,  "drawn  by  cords  of  love,"  "hold  on  their  way, 
and  wax  stronger  and  stronger."  Whereas  you  was 
once  blind,  do  you  now  see  ?  The  true  question  is,  Are 
you  in  the  ark  of  safety  ?  not  whether  you  came  in  just 
as  others  do.  K  you  love  God ;  if  you  delight  in  his 
law  after  the  inner  man ;  if  you  truly  and  heartily  re- 
pent of  all  your  sins  ;  if  Christ  is  precious  to  you,  and 
you  believe  on  him,  and  trust  in  him  as  "  all  your  salva- 
tion and  all  your  desire,"  you  need  not  distrust  your 
hope  because  you  may  not  have  had  so  much  distress  as 
is  common,  but  should  rather  "give  all  diligence  to  make 
your  calling  and  election  sure." 

I.  There  is  another  thing  which  sometimes  leads  me 
to  distrust  my  hope.  Some  of  the  young  converts  can 
tell  the  hour  when  they  were  brought  out ;  but  I  cannot 
tell  the  day,  the  week,  nor  even  the  month.  The  light, 
if  it  shines  in  my  heart  at  all,  broke  in  so  gradually  that 
I  know  not  when  it  first  began  to  dawn.  If  I  could 
give  the  date  and  place  and  circumstances  of  my  conver- 
sion, I  should  feel  much  more  sure  than  I  do  now. 

P.  This  is  a  point  on  which  I  lay  very  little  stress, 
one  way  or  the  other,  in  examining  candidates  for  admis- 
sion to  the  church.    Some  converts  are  undoubtedly  able 


4Y4  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

to  specify  the  time  when  God  "brought  them  out  of 
darkness  into  marvellous  light."  All  the  circumstances 
are  and  for  ever  will  be  fresh  in  their  recollection.  Zac- 
cheus,  the  jailor,  and  most  of  the  "three  thousand"  were 
evidently  of  this  number. 

But  so  far  as  my  inquiries  have  extended,  a  very 
large  majority  of  those  who  adorn  the  Christian  pro- 
fession cannot  tell  when  they  gave  their  hearts  to  God. 
They  can  say  with  happy  Bartimeus,  "Whereas  we  were 
blind,  now  we  see ;"  but  cannot  be  confident  as  to  the 
precise  time  when  the  first  ray  of  light  broke  in.  In 
judging  of  the  spiritual  state  of  inquirers,  I  have  often 
been  disappointed  both  ways.  Some  who  came  out  re- 
markably clear,  and  could  name  the  day  and  hour  of 
their  conversion,  have  not  only  "lost  their  first  love," 
but  at  length  given  up  their  hope,  and  returned  like 
"the  sow  that  was  washed  to  her  wallowing  in  the 
mire."  On  the  contrary,  some  who  are  extremely  dis- 
trustful of  themselves  at  first,  and  cannot  date  their 
hope,  gradually  wax  "strong  in  the  Lord  and  in  the 
power  of  his  might."  It  is  delightful  to  watch  their 
progress,  and  see  how  their  path,  as  the  shining  light, 
"  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day."  "  By  their 
fruits  shall  ye  know  them."  It  is  by  leading  a  humble, 
devoted,  and  prayerful  Christian  life,  that  one  gains,  and 
gives,  the  best  evidence  that  he  has  been  born  again, 

I.  I  do  not  know  what  to  think  of  myself,  and  I  fear 
I  never  shall.  If  I  had  not  lived  so  carelessly  the  great- 
er part  of  my  life,  I  should  sometimes  think,  that  if  ever 
my  heart  was  changed,  it  must  have  been  in  early  child- 
hood. I  can  recollect  some  of  my  feelings  then,  which 
were  as  much  like  love  to  God  and  love  to  Christ  as 
any  I  have  had  since,  if  not  more.  Is  it  your  opinion 
that  any  are  converted  so  early  that  they  cannot  remember 
the  time  when  they  began  to  love  the  Saviour  ? 


SELF-EXAMINATION.  4*15 

P.  I  think  there  are  some  such,  and  that  as  the  mil- 
lennium approaches,  there  will  be  many  more.  The  tes- 
timony of  Scripture  seems  not  only  to  favor  this  belief, 
but  to  require  it.  The  prophet  Jeremiah  was  called  and 
sanctified  from  the  womb.  So  was  John  the  Baptist. 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that  Joseph  and  Moses  and 
Samuel  and  Daniel  and  Josiah  were  all  converted  in 
early  childhood ;  and  almost  every  pastor  must  have 
found  individuals  among  his  flock,  giving  evidence  that 
they  were  converted  to  God  in  their  early  days.  Wheth- 
er, if  you  are  a  Christian,  you  was  brought  in  at  an 
earlier  or  later  date,  I  do  not  pretend  to  decide ;  but  I 
fully  believe,  not  only  that  all  infants  need  to  be  born 
again,  but  as  I  have  just  said,  that  some  who  after- 
wards shine  as  lights  in  the  world  are  thus  early  re- 
newed by  the  Spirit. 

I.  Do  you  think  the  first  holy  exercises  after  regenera- 
tion are  in  all  cases  alike  ? 

P.  By  no  means.  No  two  cases  probably  are  exactly 
alike.  I  have  found  a  great  diversity  in  the  experience 
of  those  with  whom  I  have  conversed.  One  first  re- 
joices in  the  love  of  Christ.  Another  is  overwhelmed 
with  shame  and  contrition  in  view  of  his  base  ingrati- 
tude. Another  breaks  out  in  admiration  of  the  infinite 
holiness  of  God,  and  the  reasonableness  and  purity  of 
his  law.  One  wakes  up,  as  it  were,  in  a  new  world — 
the  sun  shines  brighter  than  it  ever  did  before,  the  earth 
looks  lovelier,  and  all  nature  seems  to  be  praising  God. 
Another  has  found  a  new  Bible ;  another  feels  his  heart 
drawn  out  in  love  to  the  church,  and  another  in  compas- 
sion for  impenitent  sinners.  For  these  and  other  diver- 
sities of  views  and  exercises  when  men  are  first  renew- 
ed, we  cannot  perhaps  fully  account,  but  I  apprehend 
they  may  be  partly  explained  in  this  way.  The  thoughts 
of  different  persons  are  directed  to  different  objects  and 


4*16  REVIVAL  MANUAL. 

trutlis  at  the  time  of  their  conversion.  One  is  thinking 
of  the  goodness  of  God,  another  of  the  holiness  of  his 
law,  another  of  the  death  of  Christ,  and  so  on ;  and  the 
heart  of  each  is  naturally  drawn  out  first  towards  the 
object  then  in  view.  It  is  love,  or  it  is  repentance,  or 
it  is  faith ;  and  then  other  holy  exercises  follow,  one 
after  another,  as  the  appropriate  objects  are  presented 
to  the  mind. 

I.  I  thank  you  for  the  indulgence  you  have  granted 
me,  and  hope  I  shall  profit  by  your  instructions.  On 
some  points  which  were  not  clear  to  my  mind,  I  feel 
relieved.  Allow  me  to  ask  a  continued  interest  in  your 
prayers,  that  I  may  not  be  deceived  but  be  led  into  all 
truth. 

P.  "  Examine  yourself  whether  you  are  in  the  faith," 
not  so  much  when  or  where  you  first  embraced  Christ,  as 
whether  you  have  truly  embraced  him.  Compare  your 
feelings  and  exercises  with  the  Bible — with  the  tests 
which  you  will  there  find,  both  in  the  Old  Testament 
and  the  New,  in  the  law  and  the  prophets,  in  the  teach- 
ings of  Christ  and  his  inspired  apostles.  Pray  for  the 
teaching  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  yield  your  whole  heart  and 
soul  to  God,  and  he  will  guide  you  by  his  counsel,  and 
afterwards  receive  you  to  glory. 


{/ , 


^■C^^-v^ 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Libra. 


1    1012  01054  9972 


Date  Due 


